Trickster
by Foxbear
Summary: Airachnid's tampering unleashes terrible consequences on the Autobots. Jack must cooperate with a former enemy to right the wrong done. Rated M for violence and gore in later chapters.
1. Prologue

Her Village/Their Demon

A Transformers Prime FanFiction

Humans were, after all, such weak creatures. So easy to end their miserable existences, one could hardly call such a thing sport. So really, why even bother? Airachnid mused as she sipped down an icy cold liquid. Massive trees rose through the black night around her like colonnades in some ancient temple. Which was rather fitting she had decided. It was here her humans worshiped her. Light from their fires made the tree boles glow gold and gleamed off the black and purple Decpticon's hide. The spiderbot lounged across a stone couch cut directly into the mountain bedrock. The couch was covered in a layer of fine silk that might have been red. The con's protoform was draped in a length of jet black silk that caught and reflected the firelight. Various primitive jewelry dangled bout her limbs.

"Zhi Tiankong Zhizhu," a soft voice breathed at her side.

"Youyue," the Decpticon second in command purred as she reached out to stroke they boy's head. The human was bowed, forehead pressed against the ground revealing the full quiver of arrows and bow he carried.

"You hunt, my beloved pet?" the spider bot crooned touching the weapons fondly. The young man nodded without speaking. Airachnid smiled, showing fang. Where was it written that only Autobots got along with lesser life forms? She straightened in the couch and laid both hands on the human's bowed head. The spider bot raised her faceplates to the sky and let out a stream of Cybertronian words. It was hard not to laugh. The 'blessing' the villagers so eagerly sought was excerpts from an old flight instruction module.

As the young man humbly rose to leave the spider bot watched smugly. The human Airachnid claimed as especially hers out of the village was nearly the same age as Arcee's pet, but far superior. This one had already reproduced once successfully with its mate, was a leader in his community, had exceptional hunting skills for an organic, and had defended the village more than once from bandits. She doubted the soft stomached Jack had ever offlined even a nonsentient, let alone a fellow human. Superior in every way she confirmed as she tracked his movements through the forest. He would return in the morning with the body of some creature or creatures which he would offer to her. When she refused the disgusting little sacrifice he would then distribute the flesh among the females under his care.

After he had left, one of the older females of the village approached the throne, crawling on hands and knees. These humans were so compliant. There seemed to be almost none of that pesky defiance displayed by the others the spiderbot could name. She let the old woman stay there for some time before she waved one limb. The woman rose to her knees, never taking her eyes off the ground.

"Oh, great and fierce Zhi Tiankong Zhizhu. We would you dispense justice," the woman said shortly. It had only taken maiming a few who had wasted her time to teach them to always be succinct.

"Bring the accused," the spider bot ordered.

Several of the village men dragged a blind-folded man to the front of the crowd that was quickly gathering. They dropped him to his knees and yanked the cloth off his face. He didn't see the Cybertronian at first. Airachnid took a few seconds to study his face. He was cursing defiantly at the men holding him. One bulky male in particular seemed to be the target of his jeers. That male looked like he very much wanted to strike out at the accused but restrained himself. The spiderbot's laws were clear on that, any torturing to be done was to be left to her.

She lazily stood, the silk drapes billowing around her. Suddenly the man on the ground was very quiet. He let out a squeal of terror as she approached, joints clicking.

"Of what does this human stand accused?" she purred. Not that it mattered; the man was going to die anyway. Being the local executioner had its perks.

The large male launched into a diatribe against the cowering figure. Airachnid nodded her head and made sympathetic noises, something about the larger man's daughter. When the accusation was done she reached out her hand and rested it on the now babbling humans face. She increased the luminosity to her optics and called out loudly.

"Guilty! For his transgressions this fleshing will feel my wrath!" She smirked down at the human and transformed the terminus of a secondary limb into a hook. "Unbind him."

The man looked confused but the crowd murmured in anticipation. They knew what was coming. He shakily got to his feet. Airachnid leaned forward and whispered into the human's ear. The human began running.

Later the Decpticon was enjoying the attentions of the village maidens as they scrubbed the last of the blood and gore off of her chassis. Playing the goddess was not a new concept for the spiderbot, but after meeting up with that pesky partner of Arcee's she hadn't thought humans were quite that gullible. But they did side with the Autobots; she reminded herself, foolish creatures.

Her radio buzzed. The Decpticon stood scattering the girls around her.

"It's been lovely, but I really have to fly," she called out as they gathered themselves together, nursing bruises and scraped knees from the abrupt fall. The spiderbot threw off her robes, which the maidens rushed to collect, and transformed. These visits were all too brief she thought regretfully as she flew west. The fawning devotion, the executions, the oddly creative drinks they served her; if she were a free agent again this would make a nice base of operations on this planet.

She approached a clearing in the dense forest and transformed in mid air. The triple changer landed gracefully in protoform and strode towards a swirling green vortex. On the other side she immeditly bowed to one knee and fixed her optics on the ground.

"Lord Megatron, how may I serve you?"

Their Demon

After the demoness flew off the maidens began carefully cleaning the throne area. The head maiden made a tally of the injuries the spider demon had left behind and threw a rude gesture in the direction she had flow off in.

In the village proper the headman had called a meeting. The elders gathered in the central hut. Smoke drifted up from around the fire pit, and wreathed the grey heads.

"So, she has come and left again," muttered one wrinkled old man as he stirred the fire with a stick.

"Indeed," confirmed another.

"She has been good for trade," pointed out still another, and so the meeting began. The old men sat and discussed the pros and cons of having a live demoness for their shrine. In the end they all knew there was nothing a brute force revolution could do.

"She enjoys the executions far too much," came one comment, "It may not be long before she demands a ritual sacrifice."

Silence fell at that observation; grim silence. So the meeting went. In the wee hours, after the majority of the attendees had drifted off, a young man entered the door. He bowed low to the elders, who woke at his presence, then presented a brace of rabbits to his mother. He knelt before the headman and waited.

"How was your hunt grandson?" the old man asked.

"Fruitful," replied the hunter, "we will eat well tonight."

"Did you find anything interesting in your travels?"

The young man nodded and silently pulled out a cracked and battered tablet. On it were carved many runes. The elders each took time to examine the object, passing it from hand to hand. There was fear and determination in their faces.

"This then will be her test," the headman finally said. "And if she fails or begins to demand too much of us?"

His grandson pulled a single arrow out of his quiver. He gripped it just above the fletching and the head began to pulse softly blue, as did his eyes.

"I have felt the life-force. This will slay her. It need not even pierce her armor," he assured the gathered men. They nodded and left for their own huts.


	2. Revisions

**Trickster **

**Chapter 1**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

"I think you have a very good chance of achieving your goals young man; West Point has high standers but you are easily on track to achieving them."

The hot Nevada sun fell through the windows of the old brick building lighting up the cluttered office with a warm glow. The man who had just spoken smiled benignly across a worn wooden desk at a raven haired teenager sitting respectfully in an overstuffed chair. The youth returned the smile and nodded, wondering idly if the middle aged Paiute always wore the same outfit to work or simply owned a closet full of worn brown corduroy suits.

"Thank you Counselor Gramm. It's always good to hear that."

Jack squirmed just a bit in his seat. Discussing the plans he had made months ago again seemed a bit redundant. He knew exactly the course his life was going to take once he graduated. His time with the Autobots had cemented that. Right now all he could think about was getting out in the field with Arcee for some scouting practice she'd promised him.

"Well if you have no further questions Mr. Darby I think I have another appointment if a few hours," the man shifted his glasses and glanced in bemusement at the pile of paperwork in front of him.

"Actually sir, it's in fifteen minutes," Jack responded with a slight grin and a nod at the calendar lying haphazardly across the cluttered desk top.

The older man shifted his round glasses and blinked owlishly down at the ink scrawled paper.

"Indeed you are right my boy," he murmured.

The raven haired youth picked up his backpack and turned to leave. He moved to pass through the door and staggered catching himself on the rough jam. The human clung to the old wood and shook as strange sensations rippled through him. His mind was sharp and clear as ever and his eyes told him the wall an inch from his face was solid but some strange sense was feeding his mind information; the kind of information that suggested he was on a ship in the high seas. Jack focused on a black line of graffiti scrawled across the peeling paint. It was a stable point, if not particularly comforting.

"Darby? Are you okay?" a concerned voice asked.

"I'm fine Mr. Gramm," the youth stated straightening and trying to dismiss the churning sensation in his gut.

He was still trying to understand the sensations coursing through him. None of his training with the brothers Franklin had prepared him for this and he was increasingly sure it had been his other senses that had responded to whatever it was. It felt as if he was being pulled in two different directions at once.

"Are you sure Jack?" the older man asked worriedly taking in the suddenly pale face and sweat beginning to bead on the youth's brow. "I could walk you to the nurse's office.

"No thanks," the student managed to get out with a reassuring smile. "I probably just got up too fast and you have that appointment in fifteen minutes."

"No my schedule is clear for the rest of the day," the guidance consoler stated with a confused frown. "We were just talking about that a second ago, are you sure you're okay?"

Jack glanced back at the calendar and snapped his mouth shut on whatever he was going to say. There inked in the older man's scrawled handwriting was his appointment and then blank space. The human took a deep breath and stood straight.

"I'm sure. I feel fine now," which was increasingly true, his head was clearing rapidly.

"Well then. Do be careful young Darby, as I always say-"

"It's a good life if you don't weaken," the youth finished with a grin.

With that parting gift of wisdom the two parted. Jack walked down the dim corridors of the school staggering a bit. The sensation of being pulled in two had passed leaving him feeling oddly weak. He had almost made it to his next class when he found himself on the floor blinking at the worn carpet.

"Right, nurse's office," the youth muttered as he pushed himself back onto his feet.

The school nurse, a kindly older woman with twinkling black eyes and long silver hair took one look at him and ordered him into the bed in the corner. A quick check with the thermometer and she declared he needed rest. She also suggested that he find an alternative to riding his motorcycle home and Jack promised to let someone else drive. When the final bell rang he was feeling clear headed but still weak. The issue of whether to ride home or not was solved when Arcee's spot was revealed empty. A familiar voice called the raven haired youth's attention to the side and he jogged around the corner as he flipped open his phone.

"Hey Raf, can I hitch a ride to base with you? Looks like Arcee's busy today."

The silence drew his attention away from the text he was sending his mother; he hit send and looked at his smaller friend expectantly. The brown eyed boy was staring up at him in confusion, his old computer held loosely on his lap as he sat on the curb.

"Raf?" Jack asked a bit worried at the silence.

"Um, you need a ride home?" the smaller boy queried. "I mean sure but, my mom's rig is going to be a little crowded with my sisters."

"Bee's not coming either? Is something up at base?"

Rafael squinted at him and tilted his head to the side looking just like a small puppy.

"What base? And who's Bee?"

"Okay," Jack said slowly glancing around to see if they were being watched. "You know the 'Computer Club' we've been hanging out at for the past several months? And Bee as in your best friend?"

"Is this some kind of joke Jack?" the boy asked nervously glancing around, the older youth was not the kind to tease or torment small geeks but he might have been put up to it by one of the 'cool' girls he was always making eyes at. "I, I need to get home," he continued snapping his computer shut and starting to back away, "but if you need a ride I'm sure my mom would be glad to drop you off at home."

"No," Jack stated starting to feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, "this is not a joke. Look, if you have to get home can you tell me where Miko is? I grab a ride with her and Bulk."

The look that spread across Raf's face was one of shock.

"Jack, that's not funny. Not funny at all," there was a hint of revulsion in the brown eyes and a bit of fear.

"What's not funny?" Jack asked feeling more than a bit exasperated.

Raf was about to respond when a dusky gold minivan pulled up. A tall Latina woman smiled at Jack and nodded. When they raven haired youth glanced back at his friend the smaller boy was darting around the vehicle and scrambling inside. Shaking his head in confusion Jack glanced over at the entrance to the school and felt a small measure of relief. There in its old place was his ten-speed. Figuring that Arcee had had his mom drop it off the youth strode forward to claim his ride. He frowned at the bike lock. How had his mom found it? He had last seen it in the old warehouse they hung out in when Ratchet needed quiet at the base.

Jack shook off the thought and hopped on. The gears shifted almost too easily for so long in disuse, but this too he quickly dismissed. As amazing as riding Arcee was there was something about peddling he missed. The feeling of flying down the road under nothing but his own power; legs burning and chest straining to fill his lungs with air, provided him with something no powered machine could. He coasted into his driveway just as his phone began to ring.

"Hello boss," the youth answered before frowning yet again and leaning against the garage wall for support. "What? Today's my day off…Yes, no. Look, I worked this out with the night shift manager. I'm working closing shift this week. No, I can't. I got sent home from school because I'm not feeling too good. Okay, I'll see you then."

Hanging up Jack shook his head and hit the speed dial as he let himself into the house. The phone beeped apologetically and flashed an error message. The human sighed and painstakingly dialed the twenty-five digit number that triggered Arcee's com. However the device only gave another tone of refusal and gritting his teeth the youth dialed again paying close attention to each number. When that failed he tried Bulkhead and Bumblebee on both speed dial and manual. He had sent out Smokescreen's and Optimus's as well as the general base number before stalking into the back yard and sitting down cross-legged. Most likely his phone was malfunctioning but he was getting worried. He closed his eyes and let his focus turn inward. Once he had calmed himself enough the youth directed his senses to the south. There, faint with distance, gleamed two bright stars and he let himself relax a bit. Arcee and Optimus were at the base but there was something off about their sparks.

He stood quickly when he heard a familiar car pull in the drive. Jack darted around the building and caught his mom getting out of the white car with an armload of groceries. He grabbed the rest and followed her into the kitchen studying her intently. Something was off but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, some instinct made him hesitate to share his worries with her but another was telling him he was needed at the base.

"So honey how was your day?" she asked with a tired yawn.

"A little strange," he admitted watching her reactions intently. "Raf acted like he barely knew me and I can't find Miko."

The nurse suddenly stiffened and her eyes snapped sharply up to glance at her son's.

"Jackson Darby what are you talking about?" she demanded.

The youth backed up a step raising his hands in a placating manner.

"What happened to that girl was a tragedy and nothing to joke about. It is never funny when someone that young dies."


	3. Revelations

**Trickster**

**Chapter 2**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

"Of course not," Jack murmured mind racing. "I didn't mean to make light of it, it's just-"

Jack took a deep breath his mother suddenly felt herself near witling under his intense gaze, it was as if her son had suddenly grown years since she had sent him to school this morning and yet she knew the look in is blue-grey eyes. His mind was working over something, trying to comprehend some mystery. The whirling seemed to settle and she saw a look of guarded determination settle in its place.

"I just," Jack began cautiously, "something weird happened in school today and I think some friends of mine might be in trouble." Which was true enough, he mused as he saw suspicion and worry flickering across his mother's face. "I need to take the car and drive out and check on them. I won't be long."

"What kind of trouble?" June asked cautiously.

"The kind that needs a doctor, not a police officer," Jack explained hurriedly.

"Then you wouldn't mind if I came along for the ride?" she demanded arching an eyebrow.

"Absolutely not," he immediately stated, "you will probably be needed."

The woman blinked at the immediate capitulation then narrowed her eyes.

"I'll get my bag. Meet me in the car."

"Thank you Mom," he said gratefully and rushed to his room to grab his other backpack, the one that contained the emergency supplies he now always had ready. Somehow he wasn't surprised to find it gone. Instead he settled for a first aid kit and box of energy bars. He walked out the front door and stopped dead as he stared at the innocent white sedan.

"Jack?" his mom asked as she came up behind him. "Are you okay?"

"Just thinking about tornadoes," he muttered getting into the diver's seat gingerly.

The drive to the base was quiet for the most part. Jack was intently focused on manuvering along a road that was far more cracked and pitted than he remembered. June was quietly preparing herself for whatever they were driving towards. She gave a small gasp and shot a look at her son when he drove directly off the road at a turn and towards a tall butte. The youth stopped the car and stared at the rock wall grimly for a moment as if expecting something. When nothing happened he got out and slung his backpack over one shoulder.

"We'll need to walk from here," he said flatly as he hopped out.

June felt her gut tighten as they began to circle the butte. The day was still hot and clear but there was a tension radiating off of Jack that she had never sensed before and it sent chills down her spine. It was as if she was walking with a stranger in her son's skin; someone older and wiser and far more dangerous. She staggered a bit at that thought; shocked that her mind would suggest such a thing. This was her son, her Jack.

"The door should be right around, here," he was muttering as he jogged easily through the low sagebrush; blue eyes darting over the rocky walls of the cliff face.

June marveled at how easily he moved through the sandy terrain and dense brush. It was as if the gangly youth had been replaced with a confidant young man in the course of a day. Her attention was drawn to a door recessed into the rock wall. Or rather; an empty door frame.

Jack let out a low exclamation at the sight and froze. Where the western emergency exit had once been now gapped a concrete hole. His mind whirled; taking in every detail of the scene as he tried to keep calm, but a growing wave of terror threatened to overwhelm him. There were tracks in the concrete walls and trails of dust beneath them. Round indented tracks that followed the pathways of the electrical wiring. The same tracks he had seen on Cybertron. The youth shook his head and took several steadying breaths. He felt a warm presence at his side and smiled down reassuringly at his mother when she gripped his shoulder.

"In here," he jerked his head at the door.

He could feel Arcee's and Optimus's life signs clearly now and this close he could distinguish Fowler's as well. He was certain now that there was something very wrong with both bots; not just physically but with their sparks as well and yet it was not the odd shifting that he had witnessed when he had been pulled into another reality. Every pulse of energy that moved around him was familiar and solid. Something bad had happened here and he had a growing certainty he knew what it was.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Jack heard his mother ask nervously glancing around the dark interior of the butte.

"No," he replied calmly as he flicked on his flashlight and played it over the compromised structures, "not at all."

The raven haired youth stopped and faced his mother in the last of the sunlight before the tunnel went completely dark. She saw the determination in his face and felt her own resolve strengthen.

"Let's go find your friends," she said with a smile.

Jack turned and continued carefully down the dark hallway. He only came back here rarely; usually to check that the emergency exits were clear either of Miko's art or science projects Rafael was trying to save from Ratchet's assistance. Still it didn't require close intimacy with the space to tell the damage done. The light sockets were gone leaving only ribbons of plastic and rubber insulation, doors and doorframes had been gouged out of the walls, and even the screws that held up the information plaques were not present; so it was with little surprise that Jack came across the round crumpled body under a fallen chunk of concrete, but his blood still ran cold.

"Scraplets," he muttered. "How?"

"Jack," his mother interjected firmly, "your friends?"

"Right. This way," he shook his head as he led them further into the maze of damaged tunnels.

June began to grow more nervous as strange sounds began to grow louder. Impossibly giant footsteps and the distant rumble of an engine. For some reason the noises only seemed to excite Jack and he began scrambling faster over the wreckage. She was about to threaten him with a tetanus shot when something occurred to her. There was not a single scrap of metal to be seen. They came around a corner and she staggered back with a small cry.

"Jack!" she whispered in fear.

The youth had walked fearlessly out into a large central area lit by powerful arc lights. Standing with its back to them at a massive but cumbersome computer station was a towering figure. Blue and red colors traced sporadically through cracked masses of grey metal that made up the creature's hide. The nurse's eyes darted around the space resting for a moment on another form, smaller than the first and distinctly feminine, but still impossible large. This smaller robotic creature was sitting curled up in a fetal position against the concrete wall; a sporadic twitching the only indication she was still functional. Despite the strangeness of the situation June found her training kicking in as she tried to diagnose the robot. Were these the 'friends' Jack was so concerned about? Her thoughts were interrupted when her son suddenly called out.

"Optimus! Arcee!"

The form at the computer didn't pause in whatever it was doing but the smaller robot suddenly stiffened and her eyes shot open revealing one glowing blue orb and one of pale silver. She lurched to a standing position and a gleaming blade suddenly appeared on her arm. In apparent response to her movement the larger of the two turned and followed her fierce gaze to the form that had stopped in the middle of the room.

"Optimus?" Jack asked with a sudden hesitancy in his voice as the cracked and battered face of the creature came into view.

"I am Optimus Prime," the deep voice resonated through the empty spaces somehow it calmed the human woman, giving her the courage to walk up and stand quietly beside her son.

The behemoth tilted its head to one side and regarded them both silently for a moment. Then the cerulean blue eyes focused solely on Jack with a strange intensity. One hand came up almost unconsciously and touched lightly at the center of the wide chest.

"Who are you?"

There was an intensity in the question, and an intimacy in the searching gaze that struck June as odd. Then she passed off the thought, this entire situation was odd.

"I'm Jack, Jack Darby. Optimus; where, where is everyone? What happened?"

"What is this?" a harsh voice suddenly demanded from the side.

Jack winced at the tone. It sounded as if her vocal processor was heavily damaged and his throat ached in sympathy.

"Fowler said we weren't getting any more human agents. This one looks like he's not even into his final frame and they failed to properly brief-" the bitter tirade broke off in a fit of coughing.

Jack's confidence suddenly seemed to crumble as he stepped hesitantly towards the damaged femme.

"Arcee! It's me, your junior partner. Please tell me you remember!"

For a second he thought she was going to snarl back at him but the fire in her optics died leaving only a terrifying emptiness and she slumped back against the wall shuttering her mismatched optics.

"Arcee," Jack called out frantically taking a step towards the femme.

"Perhaps it would be best if you were to consult with Special Agent Fowler before interacting any further with us," a calm voice interjected as a large black hand blocked his path.

"Optimus," Jack began staring at the unresponsive form of his partner. "What happened? Where is everyone? Bumblebee, Ratchet, Bulkhead, Smokescreen?"

The Cybertronian tilted his helm in confusion and stared at the youth intently.

"Do not answer those questions Prime!" a harsh order was barked out.

Jack turned and fought down another wave of shock. While Fowler was still wearing the same three-piece he always did, the right side of his face was covered in rippling energon burns.

"Who in the name of Uncle Sam's top hat do you think you are kid?"

"He's my son and he came here to help," June stated firmly stepping between Jack and the oncoming federal agent.

The man paused and took a step back at the intense glare she was giving him. He silently reminded himself that he was a trained soldier and armed but that didn't quite quell the urge to turn around and run.

"Who sent you?" he demanded instead.

June was about to reply when Jack spoke up.

"Look, I'm not sure what's going on here but something is very, very wrong. Please," and his attention turned back to Optimus. "Please, just tell me where the others are."

The Prime tilted his helm to the side and silently regarded the human for a moment.

"I know nothing of a Smokescreen I am afraid, but the others you mentioned went offline several months ago due to the release of a swarm of scraplets."

"The one Bulk and Bee found in the Artic?" Jack demanded.

"Indeed," Optimus replied with frown, his optics flicking over to the growing scowl on the older human's face. "Fowler, this is not one of your agents?"

"Not by a long shot," the former Ranger snarled. "Look ma'am, kid," he said stepping forward to take a hold of Jack's arm. "I don't know where you got your information but you are coming with me to answer some questions."

"No," Jack said pulling back and shaking his head, "no, this is wrong, this is all wrong."

"It would be best if you went with Agent Fowler," Optimus stated but the searching look was still in his optics and they were still locked on Jack.

"Jack please," his mother said softly taking his other arm, Fowler shooting her a grateful look.

"No!" He said firmly pulling out of both of their grips. "I belong here. I don't know what happened but the scraplet infestation didn't go down that way. I know because I was here."

"What are you talking about kid?" Fowler demanded in exasperation. "You've never been on this base before."

"What Fowler says is accurate," Optimus stated, "I have no memory files of ever meeting you."

Jack realized that the mood in the gutted silo was shifting against him. Soon he would be dragged out of here for questioning or worse unless he took drastic action. He considered his options and his eyes fell on Arcee. He breathed a silent prayer that she would forgive him and took a deep breath.

"We have met before and I can prove it," the raven haired youth declared shooting a glance at Fowler.

The agent paused and raised an eyebrow challengingly. Jack turned his full attention to Arcee.

"You blame yourself for your partners' deaths," he spoke as evenly as he could, tried to keep his voice from breaking when her optics snapped open and turned on him in shock and pain. "Airachnid offlined Tailgate right in front of you after torturing you for the coordinates of your unit. Cliffjumper died protecting a planet that didn't even know he existed." The agony that was gleaming out of her one good optic cut Jack to his core, he had never seen it so intense and his voice unconsciously grew deeper and more soothing. "That wasn't your fault Arcee, you have to let that go."

An inarticulate cry or rage escaped the damaged femme and in one incredibly smooth motion she was on her peds with her blade out. The silver cutting edge swept down and stopped mere inches from Jack's heart.

"Who are you to think you know me?" she rasped painfully, fury filling every word. "What do you know human?"

"I'm your partner," Jack said evenly, ignoring the gasps from his mother and the agent, "and if there is one thing in all of this that I am sure of," he stepped forward with his hands spread at his sides, palms facing the Autobot, until his chest brushed against the razor edge of her wrist blade, "it's that you would never hurt me."


	4. Recognition

**Trickster 3**

**Recognition**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

June Darby drew in a sharp breath of fear as she beheld the scene before her. A scared and battered metal warrior held a gleaming razor sharp blade to her son's chest; a white hot fury glittering in the mismatched eyes. The man beside her who had introduced himself as a federal agent was standing stiffly and alertly watching the scene with the focus that only comes from long experience in combat. The two older humans stood thus until the strange female began to tremble. Her arm fell and her glowing blue eye fell away from the youth in front of her. Through all of this Jack stood calmly and never broke contact with the warrior's gaze.

"Arcee," he spoke softly as she fell away from him, "please-"

The Cybertronian snarled something viciously in her native tongue and spun away. She staggered back to the wall and collapsed into a fetal position, head turned to the gouged concrete. Jack moved to follow her, a sick pain twisting in his gut at the look on her faceplates but something drew his attention to Optimus and the warning look he saw in those cerulean optics stopped him dead.

"I think it would be best if you explained yourself now," The Prime stated placing his bulk between the broken femme and the humans. "You most certainly have my attention."

"Mine too," Agent Fowler growled, but the edge was gone from his tone. "From Arcee's reaction I'm guessing whatever you said was spot on. Now why don't we all grab a seat and you can tell me what you claim is going on here?"

"I don't know," Jack stated shaking his head, "but this is not the way things are supposed to be."

"And what do you mean by that?" the older human demanded as he guided them to a stack of crates.

"Look, this morning Arcee picked me up at my house the same way she's done for months now. We got to school and met up with Miko and Bulkhead. Bee had already dropped off Raf earlier to help out with some school project. Cee was supposed to pick me up but when she didn't I got worried and came out here to see what was going on."

"Miko and Raf?" Fowler asked pulling out a notebook and pencil.

"Miko Nakaidai and Rafael Esquivel."

"And these kids will back up your story?"

"No, Raf didn't seem to remember anything and Miko," Jack glanced at his mother nervously, "I don't think…"

"She was murdered several weeks ago," the nurse stated flatly.

Jack took a deep breath and pressed his hands shakily against his face. Something hard and cold was joining the twisting in his gut. The stress of the past several hours was catching up with him now that he was sitting down. He could guess what had befallen Miko if this was real, if it all wasn't just some terrible dream, but that didn't bear thinking on. He shook his head and glanced up sharply at the retired Ranger sitting across from him.

"You know exactly what happened to her don't you," he said softly, staring intently at the man. "There's no way you would have let an international case that big slip under your radar."

June looked at the two males nervously, sensing the challenge that seemed to hover unspoken between them. Over them both was the massive form of the alien. The woman started a bit at the thought but it made sense. What else could the creature be? It occurred to her that she was not nearly disturbed enough by his presence; even injured the red and blue creature seemed to radiate calm. A movement drew her attention back to the two humans as the older finally smiled grimly and slipped the notebook back into his pocket.

"You know things kid, I'll give you that. You're not just some punk who found this place by accident. Now why don't you tell me what's going on?"

"I told you," Jack stated in frustration, running his hand through the hair on the back of his head. "I have no idea what's going on. Everything is just wrong, different than how it is supposed to be."

"Back up there kid," Fowler shook his head. "I'm not looking for something that recent." The agent leaned forward and sized up the raven haired youth intently. "Tell me what's going on around here," his hand swept out to include the entire base and beyond.

Jack nodded in understanding, and looked to the form towering above them as if gathering strength from his presence.

"Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots," he glanced over at the trembling femme and his voice caught, "Arcee; your second in command and master scout. You come from the planet Cybertron; a place ravaged by millennia of civil war."

The human continued with a brief description of all the Autobots had told him of their journeys to Earth and their interactions with the humans once there. His mother listened as he detailed what sounded like so much science fiction to her. She kept glancing up at the clear blue eyes that watched her son intently, seeking proof that these creatures really existed. When he was done Fowler let out a snort and leaned back.

"Did I get something wrong?" Jack demanded, not liking the subtle look on the Agents face.

"All of your details were correct son, right up to the point where you started talking about the kids living it up at the base. Now Prime never mentioned anything like that to me," the older man glanced questioningly upwards and the Cybertronian shook his helm. "So as far as I'm concerned it didn't happen."

"Then how could Jack know all this?" June asked.

"That is the million dollar question," Fowler replied. "See, there are three groups that would know that stuff; Uncle Sam's boys, the Autobots, and the Decepticons. Now there is no way you're a soldier kid, the Bots don't recognize you…"

"I am not working with the Decepticons," Jack spat out furiously.

"Can you prove that?"

"How would I even start?"

"Tell me something the Cons wouldn't know."

Jack sat back on his seat and then turned to face Optimus.

"Back before the war, before the council granted you the title of Prime, when you worked in the Iacon hall of records as a data clerk you had a window. It faced the Crystal Gardens of Iacon. Even though they were only a pale imitation of the true Crystal gardens of Praxsis you loved to watch the sun rise over them. You told me," Jack swallowed down a growing lump in his throat, searching the intractable face of the giant for some sign of recognition, aching when it didn't come. "You told me once that the closest thing you had ever seen to that in all your travels, on any planet, was the sunrise over the Grand Canyon."

The Cybertronian suddenly knelt low until his faceplates were mere inches from the youth. A scared and battered servo gently reached out and touched the dark head.

"When did I tell you this?" the deep voice asked gently.

"You took me there," Jack stated awkwardly, glancing at his mother and almost stopping then stiffening his shoulders and plowing on, "to the Grand Canyon. After I offlined a Cybertronian for the first time, you took me there to help me deal with it."

June drew in a sharp breath and felt her stomach clench again. She might not understand a lot of what was being said but she could figure out what that meant. Fowler narrowed his eyes as he watched the interactions between this Darby and the Prime. All of the ex-Ranger's instincts were telling him to trust the kid, they had been from the start, but his tale was so outlandish. The man shook his head and concentrated on the silent interaction between the raven haired youth and the ancient warrior.

Jack was staring intently down at his clenched hands while his knuckles slowly turned white. Optimus had remained silent, simply watching, as if waiting for some signal. The youth began to sweat despite the cool air of the cave and his breathing grew a little ragged. June was about to interfere when one of his hands came up almost of its own accord. In one smooth motion the Cybertronian extended a servo and caught the rising human appendage just short of Jack's neck.

"Don't," the Prime insisted gently.

"Don't what?" Jack asked; unspoken hope in his voice.

Instead of replying the Prime tenderly ran his servo up the youth's arm and stopped at his neck; optics resting on faint scaring to the surface of the skin. The human twitched as he felt the familiar sensation of a scan running over him and the dormant nanobots responding.

"Defensor?" the Cybertronian murmured in shock.


	5. Inspiration

**Trickster 4**

**An Idea**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

"You remember!" Jack gasped, pressing his face into the rough servo that rested on his shoulder.

June watched the two of them with a storm of emotion swirling in her mind; confusion, fear, jealousy.

"You were one of the organics I found at my kiosk in Iacon," the Prime stated slowly. "There was another…"

"Raf," Jack nodded in relief. "You called him Cipher. He's fine. He doesn't seem to remember anything though."

"Wait," Fowler interjected. "You told me that this war has been going on for millennia. How is it even possible for this kid to have known you?"

"I am unsure," Optimus admitted, cocking his helm at the youth.

"There was a ground bridge accident," Jack explained shortly. "Ratchet had skipped a few safety protocols and Raf and I were transported to Cybertron in the past. We were fortunate enough to fall into Optimus's servos. He protected us until he was able to help us get home."

"I did not perhaps protect you well enough," the Prime murmured. "But indeed it was there I gave you the name Defensor, for you showed yourself from the start to be a protector of the small."

Jack felt his face turn red and glanced away but he shook of the lingering sense of unworthiness trying to focus on the problem at hand.

"There's still a lot that doesn't make sense here," Fowler protested. "You supposedly got sent through the groundbridge because you were hanging out at Autobot Base Omega, but you weren't hanging out here so how could you get sent back in the first place?"

"I don't know," Jack stated in frustration. "I," he was interrupted by a massive yawn and the youth rubbed his eyes.

"While I know little of temporal mechanics," Optimus said thoughtfully, "it would perhaps be a wise to determine where your memories diverge from ours."

"Right, well I know it was before the scrapplet incident."

"How 'bout you start from the very beginning kid," Fowler suggested. "How exactly did you kids get involved?"

"Arcee," Jack murmured glancing at the shivering femme. "It was just after Cliffjumper had been offlined but before Megatron had revived him with the dark energon," Jack glanced curiously at the Prime and Optimus nodded.

"I well remember the timeframe," the Cybertronian murmured.

"Well, I was coming out of work at the KO Burger in town and there was this utterly beautiful motorcycle sitting in the parking lot. I sat on her, just to get a feel of what it would be like. The next thing I know the bike up and takes off with this voice telling me to hold on and these two cars are shooting at us."

"Someone was shooting at you?" June interjected eyes widening in fear.

"I'm okay Mom," Jack reassured her laying a hand on her arm and giving her a confidant smile. "I was never in any real danger with Arcee there."

June looked skeptically at the curled form and her son felt a stab of pain lance through him as he took in the broken warrior.

"Anyway," he continued. "Arcee had spotted two vehicons tailing her through Jasper where she was scouting for energon. She had ducked into the KO Burger parking lot to avoid a confrontation in a populated area. They spotted her while I was on her and she had to tear out of there. She got us to an overpass where she could trash the Cons and Raf just happened to be there playing. She protected us until Bulkhead and Bumblebee showed up and scared off the vehicons and we got out of there. The next day you sent her and Bee back to contact us and offer protection in case the Cons had made our identities. That's when Miko saw her so she brought us both back. You explained the situation to us and assigned us each a guardian."

"What was the date this occurred on?" Optimus asked.

Jack thought a moment and answered the question. The Prime stood and walked over to the cycle bot. He gently placed one hand on her shoulder and began to speak softly to her in Cybertronian. Jack still couldn't understand much of the Autobot's language but the larger mech was clearly trying to get the damaged femme to answer a question. Slowly her hand came up and rested on top of his and her mismatched optics squinted in deep thought as she replied in kind. Optimus nodded and returned to the humans.

"Arcee remembers the date you mention and she confirms that she engaged two vehicons that began tracking her in Jasper, Nevada. She did consider concealing herself in the parking lot of the business as you said but recalls there being something dangerous in that space that she wished to avoid."

"What was it?" Jack asked, trying to recall anything in the parking lot that might have caused the reaction in the Autobot.

"She was unsure," Optimus said hesitantly.

"Hardly surprising considering how badly her processor was messed up," Fowler muttered glancing guiltily at the ground.

"Agent Fowler," the Prime stated with a frown causing the human to wince. "It is not necessarily a given that the two incidences are connected. The damage to Arcee's processor from the Arctic situation affected only her short term memory. Any engrams formed before that damage were uncorrupted. If there is this hole in her awareness it was most likely something that occurred at the time."

"So that is a place to start," Jack stated, blinking back his weariness. "Whatever messed up the timeline might have happened there."

"Perhaps," the Prime murmured softly.

"Hey kid," Fowler stated gruffly standing. "Whether or not I believe this story; you are about to drop. Why don't I escort you and Mrs. Darby home? Then we can start this conversation again in the morning."

"I can't just leave Arcee here," Jack protested.

"You want to bet?" the agent muttered reaching out for the youth.

"Agent Fowler," though spoken quietly, there was something in the Prime's tone that stilled the man instantly. "If Jack Darby wishes to stay then I think it would be best if he did. If I recall correctly the accommodations you set up in the recesses of the base were relatively untouched by the infestation?"

"Yeah, I got a couple of cots back there, but-"

"Mrs. Darby," the Autobot shifted his gaze to the woman. "Is this permissible to you?"

The nurse stiffened and blinked in surprise. Her eyes took in the shivering form of Arcee and then returned to intently study the cracked faceplates of the Prime. A small voice warned her not to anthropomorphize the alien but there was something earnest in the gaze; something that told the woman that he wanted, no, needed her son. She shivered at the thought and was about to refuse when she glanced over at Jack. Rather than looking at her pleadingly as she expected the youth was watching the smaller robot. There was a look of caring and deep sadness in his eyes and a confidence that took her breath away. He was spending the night here she realized. Taking a shaky breath she turned back to the patiently waiting Optimus.

"If Jack feels he needs to stay here then I will allow it," the mother stated. "But I need to prepare for work tomorrow. Agent Fowler perhaps we can discuss this further at my home."

Jack shot her a grateful and relieved look and Fowler nodded with a sigh.

"I'll help you back out to the car," the raven haired youth offered standing and picking up the backpack.

Fowler lingered beside Optimus and glared sharply up at the Last of the Primes.

"What gives Prime? It's not like you to just invite some stranger with a wacky story in like that."

"His tale held enough detail to warrant our attention," the Autobot stated softly, "and it would be best to keep him close for observation."

"But there's more?" the agent asked cagily.

Almost of its own accord one battered servo came up and touched just over the Cybertronian's spark chamber as the clear blue optics focused on the retreating form of Jack Darby.

"Yes Agent Fowler, there is more. I cannot explain it to you at this time but there is something; something that I doubt this young human is even aware of, that leads me to believe that there is more truth in his tale than not."

O

O

Jack lay on an army cot, only the thin cushion of the sleeping bag between him and the hard canvas surface. His head rested on his arm and he stared up at the paths chewed in the concrete of the ceiling. There had been a question hovering in his mind from the moment he had learned that the rest of Team Prime was offline. He had not asked it for several reasons; he could sense the tiredness in Optimus, the need for rest. Fowler had kept the conversation on more immediate matters. His mother needed to be soothed and reassured, not frightened further. Over and above all this however was something else.

He mind shied away from the cold reality pressing at him like a fog. In the silo proper; being forced to deal with an aggressive government agent, comforting his mother, confronting Arcee, all of that had distracted him from the answer that was there plainly for him to see. Now in the quiet of the base, with the galling truth literally etched in the walls around him, his ever seeking mind began to piece the clues together almost against his will. Jack rolled over, shutting his eyes to block out the darkness, willing his mind to sleep. His blue-grey eyes snapped open again as two glowing orbs burned in his retinas. The youth sat up gasping as he fought the images but they kept coming. Giving up he leaned back on his arms and stared thoughtfully at the tracks crisscrossing the ceiling.

It was obvious really what had happened. His mind drifted back to the Saturday morning Bumblebee had showed up at his front door. Jack had been disappointed and a little offended that Arcee hadn't shown up instead but the ride in with the ever cheerful scout and the younger boy had been pleasant enough. The three had chatted eagerly with Raf translating for Jack and the ride had passed quickly. The raven haired youth had tried to coax a ride out of his partner only to be gently rebuffed with a smile and a quip.

"Inside where it's warm," Jack murmured to himself with a shudder.

Inside where the scrapplets had already broken through the wall of the ancient trap and had begun working their way through the circuitry of the base. First the ground bridge had failed, then the comm. link; leaving Ratchet in a state of bewilderment until Raf has showed up with the little vermin in his arms.

"Except he didn't," Jack hissed to the empty room, leaning forward and pressing his forehead into his knees.

Raf would not have been there to find the first scout. Ratchet would have searched base for the problem; perhaps sending Bumblebee or Bulkhead out alone to find the problem where they would have faced the swarm alone. Even after discovering the infestation the medic would not have abandoned the base; not with Optimus and Arcee stranded in the Arctic with the cold slowly stealing the light from their sparks. He would have stayed, fighting to contain the vermin and restart the groundbridge until…

Jack felt his skin began to crawl in sympathy and he shuddered as his imagination supplied him with a detailed image of the red and white Autobot writhing on the floor as the ravenous scrapplets swarmed over his mesh, digging in and going for the juicy bits first. Jack's last meal made a valiant attempt to evacuate his body and the youth leaned over the side of the cot gagging as he fought for control. When he had calmed down again the human lay back shivering. A phantom cold had slipped into his bones and refused to leave him.

Optimus and Arcee would have laid in the blinding snow until their systems had shut down one by one, emergency programs pulling energon from extremities to protect the faltering spark. Deprived of the life sustaining liquid seals and valves would have grown brittle and cracked. Mesh would have split leaving the fine tracework of scars he had seen across their faceplates. Eventually the mighty frames would have weakened and warped. How long had they lain there suffering or insensible?

Fowler must have found their location somehow and sent a rescue team; perhaps one of the roaring C-130s that sometimes flew over Jasper. Ratchet might have gotten out a distress signal to their human ally and the gruff retired Ranger would have acted immediately but scrambling the plane and finding the Autobot's would have taken time. He would have also needed to end the threat of the scrapplets. Jack recalled the repaired silo ceiling. The youth had noted fresh scouring, more subtle than the scrapplet scars, running down the walls of the rock face. The Army had unleashed some weapon on the vermin. It had kept them from escaping to terrorize the human cities but had been too little too late for the fallen warriors within.

Arcee and Optimus would have returned to a cold and hollow base, each scar on the wall a reminder of how their comrades had met their fates while fighting to save them. Every crack in their mesh opening and leaking anew without the healing touch of their medic. Repairs to the base impossible without the strength of Bulkhead to compliment the Prime's. No young and eager scout to cheer them up when their spirits fell.

Jack felt the overwhelming urge to rush out and throw himself into Arcee's arms, to give her what comfort he could and seek comfort in return. As much as it killed him to admit it those bonds they had forged slowly and tentatively over the months together did not exist. Some freak occurrence had stolen something from him that was both indefinable and more real than anything he had ever known and he felt its absence like the phantom ache of a severed limb. He clenched his hands until his nails dug into his palms and gritted his teeth to keep from crying out. He had no time to indulge his own pain. What he had lost was as nothing compared to what the survivors had suffered. The youth rolled over and began the meditation techniques he found most calming. He would have to thank Zech for teaching him those, he though idly as he felt his mind begin to relax.

Jack's eyes snapped open and he sat up with a gasp as an idea hit him. The youth leap out of the cot and forced his tire body to run down the silent corridors of the base to the exit he knew led to the highway. The cold night air bit into his arms and cacti tore at his bare feet as he rushed up to the concrete barrier and easily leapt over it. He made his way to the cluster of large barrel like reflectors and crouched among them shivering. Fortunately he did not have long to wait, the highway was well traveled this time of the year and soon the roar of a powerful diesel engine filled the air. Jack glanced around the reflector and frowned thoughtfully at the symbol on the approaching truck. Not the bold F he had hoped for but useful anyway. A gleaming red stylized wolf's head adorned the side of the approaching big rig.

The human cupped his hands together and focused on the center point formed therein. He let his life force flow into that point and trapped it there until his hands glowed from within bright amber. The semi slowed and came to a stop with hissing of brakes at the signal and the raven haired youth felt the warmth of the trucker's response. Jack scrambled out of his hiding place and in through the open door of the cab.

"I need to get a message out on the airways," he explained to the man in the driver's seat without preamble.


	6. Developments

**Trickster 5**

**Developments**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

It really didn't take much to put Salcha Franklin in a bad mood his little sister mused as she dodged a startled and slightly overweight Labrador retriever that had shot out from under the massive semi. What comforting warmth the gunmetal grey truck offered was not nearly compensation enough for the hair raising snarls that were emanating from the engine. Her biggest brother had been snippy for hours for no apparent reason.

The small girl straightened her bright pink parka and tried to decide what to do as she struggled to get her obsidian black hair under control and under the fur lined hood. On the one hand she wasn't very good at calming Sal down, not like her bigger sisters or brother was. On the other hand she was the only one available at the moment as all of the others had been called away for important jobs. She wasn't quite sure what was going on but a lot of the elders had been running around very agitated. And it must be something very bad to make the clam old leaders of the Clan hurry about like that. So the girl sighed and trudged through the snow to the side of the twitchy big rig.

"Sally? I'm cold," she whimpered, making sure to hug herself and pout for effect like Cadence had told her.

The familiar deep voice surrounded her with a rebuke that his name was not a feminine but the door popped open and she scrambled eagerly into the controlled chaos of the cab. The girl hoped up on a box and leaned back against a large mustard yellow fire extinguisher considering her next move. Her brother had just eaten so he wasn't hungry and Zech had just fed him the red oil so he was fine that way. She let out a frustrated sigh and rested her pert little chin on brown fists.

"Is something wrong Dee?" Sal asked finally noticing the funk in the scrunched up little face.

"I'm not sure," she pouted.

"Really, is someone bothering you?" he asked in concern as a black tentacle reached up and gently stroked her cheek.

The child grabbed the appendage and quickly wrapped it around her hand before glaring at the dashboard meaningfully.

"You are being mean!"

"Me?" the creature demanded incredulously.

"Yes! You!" the girl declared forcefully tugging on the tentacle. You chased Daisy away-"

"That dog can get warm anywhere," the big rig muttered.

"You snapped at Uncle Mac-"

"He was being sneaky about his latest contract," Sal snarled but cut the sound short when Dee flinched and let go of him.

"Desiree," the semi crooned apologetically reaching out to carefully wrap his seatbelts around her as large tears began to well up in the deep purple eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap."

"Why are you so cranky today?" she whimpered leaning into the caress forgivingly. "Dose you need a nap?"

"A nap?" Sal responded with a scoff. "Really, you know I don't sleep."

"Hungry then?"

"Nope," the semi gave a sigh of frustration and plopped the girl out onto the hard packed snow of the gravel driveway. "Look kiddo, go inside and get Zech for me will you? We need to get going if we are going to make the border on schedule."

He noted the reluctance in her eyes and the all too familiar stubbornness building in her jaw and suppressed a groan.

"I feel much better Dee," the big rig rumbled firmly. "Thank you for cheering me up. Now please go get Zech."

With a triumphant exclamation the little one leaned forward to swat one of his tires and scampered into the large house. Her older brother watched her affectionately as she darted through the door and assaulted a tall powerful young man. Zechariah Franklin scooped his little sister up and gave her a hug before jogging out to the gunmetal grey semi.

"What was with Dee?" Zech asked absently as he swung himself up into the cab and began sifting through a stack of paperwork.

"She was cheering me up," the big rig muttered as he fired up his engine.

The young man snorted and shook his head in amusement muttering something about little girls. The silence that filled the cab in reply drew his attention away from the forms in his hands and he arched his eyebrows at the dashboard.

"Did you need cheering up?" the human asked softly as the semi pulled out of the driveway with practiced ease.

"No," the big rig muttered sullenly, "maybe."

"Sal, what's up?"

"I don't know. Things have been strange for hours now, twitchy and wrong," Salcha blurted out glad to finally have articulated what had been plaguing him and eagerly awaiting the expected sympathy but to his surprise Zech's hands tightened on his pencil and his brother drew in a sharp breath.

"You say things? What things?"

The creature flinched in surprise at the intensity of the question. He had expected a soothing talk on not letting his fears run away with him, maybe some nice sciencey explanation of why there was nothing to worry about. This, this implied there might actually be something wrong.

"I don't know. Everything is just off. I can't be more specific."

"Well," the human replied with a wry smile. "I think we can add temporal sensitivity to the list of your skills."

"Say, whatsis?" The big rig began to grow irritated at the seemingly random mood shifts from his brother. Zech was supposed to be the reliable one!

"I wasn't going to tell you-"

"Then don't," Sal cut in. "You know how much I enjoy my ignorance."

"Hey, nothing complicated," promised Zech with a laugh. "Just everything is wrong."

"See!" the big rig protested, "I was perfectly happy just thinking it was me and being cranky. Now I'm coming down with science! And you know science gives me hives."

"Not science," Zech muttered, "not yet."

"Okay," Sal muttered, "and someone's been taking cryptic lessons from the seers?"

"Sorry Bro," Zech said with a short laugh. "Something weird's going down and it looks like you might have the senses to know something."

An uneasy rumble came from the engine and the human reached out to stroke the dash reassuringly.

"It's okay Sal. The Clan's not going to put you under the microscope. I'll just radio this in to the big meeting that's going on and we can finish our delivery to Sea Town."

"Sea Town? I thought you were trying for an Arizona run this time."

"Why would I do that?"

"So we could swing near-" the big rig was cut off as the radio blared to life.

*Any Franklin Rig, Big Bad Wolf Alpha, over.*

"Big Bad Wolf Alpha, Grey Dawn, over," Zech replied into the mic.

*We've got a possible inconsistency in the time logs for the Panhandle runs, but it's a thin lead, probably just bad bookkeeping, over.*

"Thanks Alpha, I'll be coordinating for the highways so keep me informed, over."

"What kind of inconsistencies?" Salcha asked curious now.

"Someone is messing with the timestream Bro," the tall Native American replied, stretching out one more time before stowing the finished paperwork and taking control of the driving.

"Woah! Timestream? Like in those crazy sci-fi flicks the kids are always watching?"

"Yup."

"So shouldn't the military be handling this? Or some top secret government agency?"

"Eventually, but as of yet no one has the tech to even sense when this sort of thing happens, let alone react to it."

"So it's up to the clan to fix things," Sal sighed. "How much more work will this mean for us?"

"Unless we're directly involved in the time change not much. We just need to make sure no one sensed anything odd among the truckers. Like if someone remembers a run going one way but the official records read another."

"So you think I was sensing this, timestream, disturbance?"

"The timing is right, and you do have plenty of senses we don't fully understand."

"So more tests with all the sciencey types?" Sal whimpered a bit at the thought.

"As you're not likely central to the problem, maybe when we get back from Sea Town," Zech laughed, "until then you're safe."

The strange and elongated silence that followed made the young man pause however.

"Sal, what's up?"

"Inconsistencies, that means when something is supposed to be one way and it's the other? And temporal means time. So someone changed something in the past and that's bad because it does things now."

"That's right," Zech confirmed, frowning at the frightened note in the deep voice.

"And most humans can't sense it but you think I'm in a bad mood because I can sense it, so I should be able to remember the way things are supposed to be?"

"Pretty much. Why? Do you think you know of one already?"

"Well we were supposed to be headed for a Midwest run today I'm sure of it."

"I'll make a note of that," Zechariah stated quickly writing it down in a handy log book.

Sal sighed and rolled on, fairly sure his brother was just humoring him. As the miles passed by more reports came in sporadically. Zech frowned at the growing list.

"Whatever this is it's shaping up to be a lot more related to us than I thought at first," he muttered. "Mostly the reports originate from Others who were close to one or more human truckers. A lot of these are serious incidences and they're along our regular route, and further into the Midwest."

"What did I tell you?" Salcha demanded.

"Hold that thought," the human muttered as he reached out to answer the CB upon hearing their call sign.

"This is Grey Dawn, go ahead."

*Grey Dawn, Red Skeleton; got a CQD for you guys.*

"Well don't keep us in suspense."

*Yeah, a Smithy near Jasper, Nevada wants to see you specifically real bad.*

"Smith in Jasper, Nevada. Over," Zech responded firmly

*See you round Grey Dawn.*

Sal rumbled in excitement at the news and his brother glanced down at the dash curiously.

"What's this all about? Were you ever in Jasper before I started hauling with you?"

"You are kidding right?" scoffed the deep voice. "We pull through Jasper at least once a month."

The human frowned and pulled out the hardcopy log from where it sat in a special shelf and opened it; carefully selecting the section dated from one year past to the current run and flipping through it.

"Sal, according to my memory and this book we haven't left the I-5 corridor since I started working with you solo."

"No way! We've been taking as many long hauls as possible."

"Why would I agree to that? You always prefer cooler drives."

"So we could be there to train Jack of course," Sal stated in exasperation.

Zech tilted his head to one side and blinked.

"Jack who?"

The human was thrown back into his seat as the mighty engine revved and the semi accelerated down the highway.


	7. Contact

**Trickster 6**

**Contact**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

"Hey Darby!"

Jack groaned and rolled over almost falling off of the cot before remembering where he was. With that memory came the near crushing realization of the situation. His stomach clenched and he fought down the bile as he forced himself to stand and face the agent.

"Fowler?" the youth muttered rubbing his eyes.

"You look beat kid. Come and have some breakfast while I brief you."

"Sure thing, got anything besides maple bars and expresso?"

"How did you know?" the agent asked indignantly but stopped when Jack just stared at him with one eyebrow raised.

"Right, time travel or what not," Fowler sighed. "It's maple bars or nothing kid."

"Nothing like a sugar and caffeine rush to start the morning," the raven haired youth replied with a twisted smile.

The older man snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Don't tell me you're one of those health nuts," the soldier groused.

"Just wait till you talk to my mom," Jack said warningly. "Two words, organic tofu."

"I would never," Fowler shuddered.

"Actually you frequently do," Jack responded with a forced grin, "at least in my timeline."

"Son," the agent said softly, the jesting falling away for a moment. "How are you holding up?"

Jack sighed and rubbed his hand over his eyes tiredly.

"Most of my closest friends, the people I consider family, are either dead or not speaking to me, there's a great likely hood that my planet is going to be attacked by hostile alien forces very soon, and my best friend has had her spirit broken. So, I'm vertical and breathing."

"I got to admit I like your spirit kid," Fowler smiled a bit ruefully. "Still not sure I believe all this…"

The raven haired youth lifted his head and looked keenly at the agent.

"But?"

"I've been asking around about time travel, and I've got some very interesting reactions."

"Really? Someone knows something?"

"Not exactly kid. I was expecting to get funny reactions and I did; just not the right kind of funny reactions."

"How so?"

"Say if I went looking for proof of UFO's people would look at me funny, like they were humoring me, like they knew I wasn't going to find anything and didn't really care."

"Uh, we are having this conversation in a base for aliens," Jack pointed out.

"You know what I mean kid," the older man growled. "My point is that I was asking about time travel and that wasn't the reaction I was getting. They were all acting clammy."

"Clammy?"

"Shut up like clams. I was getting too close to something that I shouldn't."

Jack let out a shuddering laugh and slumped down into a chair in the near empty silo after accepting a doughnut from the box.

"Okay," Fowler leaned back against the railing arching an eyebrow. "Not exactly the reaction I was expecting from you either."

"This means that someone knows something," Jack explained sipping the strong black coffee. "It's just the first evidence I've had other than my own word that I'm not just going crazy."

"So kid," Fowler asked slowly as he watched the youth drinking the brew, "any ideas why I was getting shut down?"

"Yes. I'm not exactly certain of the details, you handled that side of things so I only know a bit but there is this-" Jack stiffened and cringed as the sound of a slow tread filled the silo.

Fowler turned and took in the scene. The tall, noble form of Optimus Prime was bent over tenderly supporting a smaller frame. The agent winced as gears ground harshly in the still air of the silo. Beside her commander Arcee seemed so very fragile; a broken toy soldier. The man heard a small noise and glanced at the youth beside him. Jack's knuckles were white where he gripped the coffee cup and in his eyes shone a deep pain that seemed to mirror that in the pale blue optics of the Prime. In truth it had been that more than anything else that had convinced the agent to risk his reputation chasing the phantoms the youth had outlined. There was a conviction in this Darby that demanded action. He returned his attention to the two Cybertronians.

Optimus gently set Arcee down on the crates where she had been the previous day. Her mismatched optics flicked to Jack and a frown creased her faceplates. The femme very deliberately looked away from the human and set her shoulder guards stiffly against the battered concrete wall. Fowler took in the look of distress on the youth's face at the clear dismissal but felt a smirk trying to claim his face. There was something about the kid and even the damaged scout felt it. That was more spirit than she had shown in months.

"Agent Folwer, Mr. Darby," Optimus greeted them both respectfully. "Are there new developments that we need to know of?"

"Nothing substantial," the ex-Ranger began, only to break off with a surprised exclamation when his phone rang. "Excuse me Prime I gotta take this," he muttered, "and so help me if this is anything less than a nuclear disaster… Fowler."

"I would like to hear more of our interactions in the time line you remember," Optimus stated turning to the younger human, "and of your interactions with my scout. You claimed to be her partner."

"Yes, Arcee and I are, were, partners," Jack began.

"And why the pit would I accept a pathetic little organic like you for a partner?" the femme suddenly cut in, her voice tainted with bitterness but burning with fury. "What could you have possible done to earn that level of respect from me human?"

"Well," Jack began hesitantly, "you seemed fairly impressed when I blew up Airachnid's spaceship."

"What?" shrieked the scout lunging to her peds.

"I said-"

"I heard you," she hissed leaning forward, slightly disconcerted by the fact that the human did not flinch away from you. "What do you know about that Decepticon?"

"She came to Earth months ago, if you weren't there to intercept her she's probably long gone."

The Autobot was struck speechless for a moment and in the silence Jack caught a fragment of a name and suddenly stiffened, whipping around to face Fowler.

"Johnson? Are you talking to Agent Johnson?" the raven haired youth demanded. "Fairbanks FBI?"

Fowler nodded and held up a hand for silence.

"I understand perfectly Agent Johnson. Yes, the target is right here and appears to recognize you. I'll ask. Darby, how many times have you met Johnson?"

"Twice personally."

Fowler relayed the information and then frowned.

"Why would it be important that I have immediate access to a semi?" he asked warily. "I see, I understand. We'll be there."

The man folded his phone shut and glared thoughtfully at Jack.

"Johnson remembers me?" Jack asked excitedly.

"No," Fowler responded flatly. "But he has a downright eerie grasp on what is going on, and he claims that you, me, and a semi truck need to meet him, a friend of his, and a semi truck in six hours where I'll receive a briefing."

"Yes!" Jack clenched his hands together, relief flooding through him for the first time since this had begun.

"I assume you know something about this?" Fowler asked suspiciously.

"Of course; Johnson is an ally where I come from. You don't like him but you-"

"You contacted someone," the agent growled. "Went around me. Risked our security."

Jack stiffened as he realized where this was going and held up his hands defensively.

"Woah, listen. I used standard protocols to get a message out; protocols you put in place for me to use."

"So you say. If he doesn't remember Optimus how does this suit know to ask for a semi?"

A smile flickered across Jack's face and he looked confidently at the agent.

"Did he say where we were supposed to meet?"

"No," Fowler admitted grudgingly. "He said you'd know."

"I do, and the meeting place is a truck stop. Optimus," Jack turned to the Prime, "are you able to transform?"

"I am capable, but my cruising speed will be lower than normal."

"You're still a three digit ride I bet," the youth smiled, "but we need to leave now if we are going to make the rendezvous."

"Listen kid I want to check up on this Johnson's bonifides first-"

"Agent Fowler," the Prime interrupted the agent. "It is my judgment that we trust Jackson and leave now so as not to waste time."

The older human blinked and stared up at the Cybertronian in shock. He had not heard that much strength in the deep voice for months. He was about to concede but the Autobot swiftly transformed and opened his door. Jack winced at the pain obvious in the movement but leapt eagerly into the cab. Arcee staggered up and into the wide trailer. Fowler gave an exasperated sigh and jumped in after the raven haired youth. Something warned him this was not going to be an easy ride.


	8. Meeting Place

**Trickster 7**

**Meeting Place**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

"Fowler would you please check on Arcee?"

"Sure thing Prime," the agent agreed grabbing up a supply bag and jumping out of the cab.

He nodded to the raven haired youth who had just stepped out of the bathroom and trotted to the back of the trailer. Jack smiled softly and chuckled, swallowing down a subtle but bitter ball in his throat before leaping back into the cab.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked as he settled into the cracked and worn seats.

There was a slight pause and Jack could sense the Cybertronian's surprise but the Prime continued without comment.

"There is a matter I felt it urgent to discus before we went any further," Optimus began.

Jack felt a small surge of hope mixed with trepidation at the tone in the Prime's voice. The overwhelming tiredness that had suffused the Prime's attitude seemed to lift for a moment revealing the inherent curiosity of the young archivist who found wonder in every aspect of the universe. More importantly the determination that had always filled the deep voice had flickered back to life. It was not the steady constant that it had always been before but it was there and that soothed fears that the human had not even realized he had been carrying.

"What is it?" the raven haired youth inquired as he settled into the seat.

"The story you told us and the most obvious conclusions that can be drawn from them; they are simply impossible."

"What?" Jack demanded, stiffening in shock at the flat tone.

"The core scientific principles related to temporal interaction on Cybertron are well established and quite clear. Any attempt to alter the past through time travel will fail; each attempt has already been absorbed by the time stream," the Prime explained.

"But I, you, I mean," Jack stuttered out before taking a deep breath and shaking his head. "Then why are we here? If you didn't believe me in the first place why come along?"

"I did not say I did not believe you," Optimus corrected gently. "I only wish for you to better understand the situation"

One seat belt buckle came up and gently touched his cheek and the human leaned gratefully into the caress, letting the affectionate contact soothe his confusion.

"As I said; what you say is one impossibility and yet there is another greater impossibility."

Suddenly Jack felt a wave of relief wash over him. No matter what happened Optimus Prime was here. He was safe. No matter if the Autobot was having trouble believing him or not there was no way the last of the Primes would let him own. The human opened his mouth to ask what Optimus meant but the deep voice interrupted him before he could.

"Did you feel that Jackson Darby?"

"I, I felt something," the youth admitted still basking in the glow of warmth and reassurance. "It felt good."

"And in the face of this greater impossibility, I must accept the reality of the lesser," Optimus said softly, almost reverently as the seatbelts gently encircled the human and tenderly held him close.

Jack leaned into the embrace willingly but a frown of confusion creased his face.

"Why did you not use this proof earlier?" the Prime asked. "Such would have been far more convincing than any information you possessed."

"I'm not sure what you are talking about," Jack said distractedly almost purring as another wave of comfort seemed to spread out from his heart and seep into his tense muscles.

"Never in the history of Cybertron has there been a guardian bond recorded between a Cybertronian and another species, but from the moment you stepped into the base my spark responded to your presence. Now that I have had a chance to observe your physiological reactions more closely I am certain that you too are capable of feeling the connection."

Jack sat perfectly still trying to take this in. He opened his mouth to respond but nothing came out at first. Optimus sat quietly allowing him the time he needed to absorb the information. Now that the Prime had articulated it there was no denying the truth even if he wanted to.

"How?" the young man finally breathed. "I mean this has happened before in my timeline but I just assumed it couldn't happen this way."

"This way?" Optimus inquired intense curiosity burning through his circuits.

"With a human in the sparkling's place, and besides I was too old by the time we met. I mean I'm not a sparkling and I've already," Jack's voice caught and he quickly decided that there was no reason to introduce another tragedy into the situation.

"Be that as it may," the Prime stated gently setting aside his own curiosity for the moment, "what exists between us is very much real. If you know of such bonds than you are aware of the responsibilities that it entails."

"Yes," Jack spoke very quietly, "I am aware."

"As to how this bond formed or why it did so at your age I do not know, but once it is formed such a bond is unbreakable. It grows stronger and deeper over time and only death is capable of severing it. The connection I sense between us has a depth that could only have come from much time spent together. This then is all the proof I require that your words are true. Whatever force has caused this schism in reality was indeed powerful and beyond my understanding but if, as Agent Fowler says, your people know something it may be simply a phenomenon native to your planet."

After this revelation Jack sat quietly staring off into the distant mountains, extremely glad for the silence Optimus allowed him. The seatbelts held him a little tighter than usual, as if the Prime was attempting to reassure himself that the youth; that their bond was real. The human finally took a shuddering breath and raised a hand to grip the buckle firmly. This was a revelation that shook the foundations of his reality nearly as much as the shift in time had, but there were more imperative things to address.

"Optimus, nothing would make me, happier, prouder, than to be able to call you my father," his voice cracked on the final word as old emotions he had long suppressed came boiling to the surface.

The cab filled with a deep pleased rumble and for a second Jack thought the semi was about to speak when the door swung open and Fowler jumped in shivering.

"Uncle Sam's top hat! It's cold out there!" he hooted. "I patched a few leaking cracks and gave her some more warm packs. She's holding up pretty good. I think the rhythm of the road is soothing her."

"Thank you Agent Fowler," Optimus replied as he began to pull out of the rest stop.

"No problem Prime," the human replied rubbing his hands together briskly. "She's a good soldier."

"Indeed."

"So kid, where did you say we were headed?"

"A truck stop across the Oregon border," the raven haired youth explained. "I gave Optimus the coordinates. It's a meeting place used by the people we're going to meet. They'll have an explanation for us if anyone on this planet does."

"How much longer?" Fowler asked with narrowed eyes.

"About three hours."

"And what's the elevation?"

"Somewhere around nine-thousand feet," Jack replied.

Fowler grunted and shook his head.

"We need to watch the temperature with the big guy. Ever since the Arctic they've been extra sensitive to the cold."

"We will be fine Agent Fowler," Optimus assured them.

Jack remained silent but the youth kept an eye on the outside temperature as they climbed higher into the Cascades. Soon patches of snow appeared and the sides of the road were red with traction gravel. Optimus rolled on without obvious reaction but when Jack shifted his awareness he was able to sense the energon along the outer mesh swirling as it responded to the pain the cold air caused. The raven haired youth took a deep breath and leaned his head against the door as if he were falling asleep. Fowler took the hint and ended his attempts at conversation leaving Jack free to focus on what he was doing. He spread his hands out across the inside of the door and sent out a gentle healing wave. The human felt a small prick of despair as he felt the energy rapidly absorbed by the many injuries and not for the first time the human felt horribly out of his depth. Taking another breath he resolutely focused on the next thing he could do and sent another pulse. The miles passed swiftly this way and before he realized where they were Fowler was shaking his shoulder to get him awake.

"We're here kid. Now where's our contact?"

Jack sat up and glanced blearily around the truck stop. It was a wide clearing in the dense Douglas Fir forest that boasted a few gas pumps under a tall cover, a small diner, and a rustic general store. The familiar gunmetal form of Greydawn was nowhere to be seen however. Jack reminded himself that the semi might be sporting a different color scheme in this timeline and reached out for the bright star that was Zechariah.

"That way," Jack said pointing into the dense snow covered forest. "Follow that set of tracks."

Optimus obliged; rolling along the twin paths left by another big rig. They led to a twisting gravel road barely wide enough for the branches to clear the chrome on his mirrors. Pale sunlight filtered through the clouds, casting deep shadows between the trunks. For the most part Jack ignored the creatures that flickered across his vision. In an old forest like this he could never really be sure if the others were seeing the same things he was. Instead he focused on Fowler who was growing increasingly agitated in the narrow space. Finally the trees parted in a large clearing and the Jack gave a small sound of satisfaction when his eyes fell on the dark semi sitting at the far side.

"That's them?" the agent asked gruffly as two men leapt out of the truck, one tall and powerfully built and the other shorter and rounder.

"F.B.I. Agent Johnson and Zechariah Franklin," Jack confirmed with a grin as he opened his door letting the swirling cold fill the cab. "Come on, you'll like Zech and you can get warm yelling at the penguin."

The agent snorted and got out giving the Autobot as reassuring pat as he did.

"There's only one way out of this place kid," he growled as they approached the others.

"Easily defensible," the youth returned lightly. "Zech!" he called out breaking into a jog. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you both! Oh, and you too Agent Johnson."

Jack grabbed his friend in a hug which the taller man returned easily, but there was something off about the embrace. The raven haired youth pulled back and glanced up at his friend with a curious expression while the two Federal Agents eyed each other warily, pulling badges out of their pockets and muttering lowly.

"And you have no idea who I am, do you?" he asked with a sigh.

"Sal has been filling me in," Zech said ruefully, "extensively, but no."

"So why can he remember me?"

"Well I won't say we have no idea," the tall Native American admitted with a smile, "but very little about sums it up. I'd go into details but he really wants to see you and I barely got him to agree to sit still long enough for the suits to establish dominance. They're about done so come on over and we'll-"

"Leave now," Johnson suddenly barked out spinning on a heel and striding back for the dark semi clearly expecting Franklin to follow through the biting wind.

"What?" Jack demanded frantically. "No! you can't just leave!"

"Can and are," the agent returned sharply.

"Come on Darby," Fowler stated with a frown. "He said we'll meet an expert in the diner-"

"No!" the raven haired youth protested. "We need the Franklins!"

"Well what you are going to get is a bloodbath if we don't get them away from the alien," Johnson hissed low grabbing Zech's arm and pulling him towards the other semi.

"Alien?" the Native American asked eyes widening in shock. "Look, we need to leave."

"Are you sure Sal remembers me?" Jack demanded catching his other arm.

"Yes, but-"

"No buts," the raven haired youth said grimly. "Sal!" he called out raising his hand and waving, "Get over here. Optimus is hurting from the cold and needs some help!"

Johnson gave a wheeze of barely contained fury while Fowler watched the interactions with a deep scowl. Jack sent out a pulse of reassurance to his friend that seemed to calm the young trucker a bit but he still watched in concern as the lights on the dark Peterbilt came on and the diesel engine roared to life. The truck came forward quickly and snatched up the loudly protesting F.B.I. agent in a tie strap.

"Heya Jack! How are you doing is everyone okay? Have you figured out who did this yet? Answer my questions as I go because I need to help Optimus," the big rig spoke in a rush with unconcealed pride in the last sentence as he advanced on the patiently waiting Prime.

Jack didn't even try to answer the rush of questions from the creature. He jogged along beside with a grin. No matter the situation something about the strange semi always seemed to lift his spirits. Zech trotted along beside him with a bewildered expression but kept his peace when he saw how calm Sal was. Fowler was loudly demanding that the new semi drop Johnson but the raven haired youth could tell from his tone it was more for show than anything else.

"Now you need to remember," Jack warned, "he doesn't remember anything."

"Oh! That's great!" Salcha enthused as they approached.

"Great?" Jack demanded.

"Yeah! I totally get a chance to start over and do this right! Optimus Prime!" the grey big rig called out cheerfully as he came nose to nose with the red and blue. "Hey! I need to brief you on all the important type stuff! My name is Salcha Franklin. I'm keeping the human tied up because of a little misunderstanding. I'll let him go in a minute. Oh! I'm not a Cybertronian. Exactly what I am isn't really important so we can skip that. The important thing is that we are friends, and wipe that look off your face Zech, it's true. Anyway I'm here to help because Zech here knows what's going on and- thunderheads over Denali! What are you?"

The gunmetal grey rig suddenly recoiled as Arcee stepped wearily around the back of Optimus's trailer clinging to it for support.

"This is my second in command, Arcee," Optimus explained calmly. "You do not know her?"

"Nah, the humans only really let me interact with you and not very much," Sal stated nervously. "They think I'll wig out and go nuts." The big rig seemed to shudder for a moment before starting forward again. "But you know what? I can do this. I can! Arcee was it? I'm Sal."

"Sal," the warrior muttered before a short convulsion ran through her frame and left her slumped against Optimus.

"Oh Denali, I am so sorry. You are both cold. We should have met somewhere warm but time is short and we need to get you briefed-"

"So tell us already!" the femme snapped glaring up at him with mismatched optics.

The grey big rig paused, taken aback by the venom and fought down annoyance at the interruption. He was being the logical one, he reminded himself, he had to be. But a wave of jealously filled him when he saw the concern and affection radiating out of Jack's eyes. Sal repeated to himself that this was Optimus's friend, she protected the humans. The blue femme suddenly shivered again and the big rig resolutely stamped down on his feelings. She needed help; his help.

"Okay, but just a moment. Johnson?" he dropped the middle-aged agent into the snow and released his tie straps. "As you can plainly see I am completely under control. I have done this before, with your blessing in fact, so why don't you go make yourself useful and block the road in so we don't get bothered. I am going to make our guests comfortable while Zech briefs them on how Jack is going to save the world."


	9. Unsettling Discoveries

**Trickster 8**

**Unsettling Discoveries**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction **

"There now!" Salcha Franklin called out cheerfully. "Isn't that all better?"

"Actually it is," Arcee stated surprise tainting the gratitude in her voice.

The strange death colored semi was unnerving to say the least. Simply having somemech that looked so much like an offline Optimus rolling around would have been bad enough but his forcefully cheerful demeanor added to the surreal nature of the situation. She had asked Optimus in Cybertronian what he thought of the strange creature and the Prime had only said that the humans appeared to trust him. Certainly the young male who had started this mess seemed to give him his full cooperation, and the older humans followed his orders with alacrity.

A cold wind was whipping the snow around and dark clouds promised more soon. Salcha had helped Optimus unhitch from his trailer after herding the Prime over to a secluded corner under the trees. Leaving just enough room for two semis to sit comfortably side by side the creature had produced several large tarps and stretched them from the ground on one side of the trailer, over to the lower branches of the trees, and to the ground. The entire set up was just tall enough for their smoke stacks to poke out of the top. He had the humans secure the tarps to the hard packed soil forming a roughly triangular shelter. The creature backed up beside Optimus and carefully spread a tarp on the ground in between them.

"There," he said proudly as Arcee and the humans ducked into the space lit by the two truck's running lights. "That should keep the wind and snow off of us for now."

"This is a pretty sweet set up," Jack said admiring the effectiveness of the improvised tent.

"Yup," Sal confirmed as he carefully guided Arcee onto the tarp. "Here, this should keep you off the cold ground Miss. It's an old Franklin motto that you should always be comfortable Jack. Now, you humans just set yourself down right here and hold on a second," there was a pause as the rustling of tie straps could be heard in the surrounding forest then almost faster than the eye could follow there was a small pile of dead branches centered between them. He brought out a gas torch and soon a small fire was crackling merrily.

"Not very boy-scout," Fowler commented dryly looking at the green propane canister.

"Would you rather wait for me to rub two sticks together?" The truck demanded with a huff.

"This is fine Sal," Jack soothed the big rig with a stroke along his running board, "better than fine."

"It is, isn't it?" the truck hummed proudly firing up his engine. "And that should keep us even warmer and keep anyone from eaves dropping."

"Who are you concerned about?" Optimus inquired curiously as he felt the other semi move a bit closer, lightly touching their rear wheels together.

"The trees have ears," Agent Johnson growled quietly.

There was a pause as the assembled beings took in his words but then Sal broke it with a nervous chuckle.

"Anyway! The reason we are here is so Zech can explain what's going on. So have a seat and without further ado! Here is your stick!" the big rig handed the trucker a two foot long stick that had been worn smooth down to the core wood.

"A scrap of organic matter is going to help him explain complex temporal mechanics?" Arcee demanded harshly.

"Humans use sticks to explain lots of things toots!" Sal responded smugly reaching out and lightly smacking the femme on her aft with a tie strap. "It's-yeouch! My appendage!"

"Arcee!" Optimus said sternly.

"Sal!" Zech gasped, eyes widening in shock and embarrassment. "Where did you learn that word?"

"What appendage? Cousin Jenna's-"

"No! Toots?"

"Oh, Uncle John. I'm guessing I should apologize?" the semi asked curiously.

"Yes!"

"Okay then. Sorry Miss Arcee."

"You should be!" the warrior snarled backing towards Optimus and giving the gunmetal grey rig a death glare.

"Arcee," the Prime said and there was something unspoken in his tone.

"Sorry for cutting off your tie strap," she growled sullenly.

"Apology accepted," Salcha returned with a resigned sigh as he scooped up the twitching black scrap. "But it was probably all my fault. It usually is."

"I'll explain later," Jack promised the creature, chocking back a wave of laughter.

"Chocolate!" the grey semi suddenly called out.

"What?" Fowler asked with a scowl.

"The hot chocolate is ready!" the semi called out eagerly. "I heated this up for you human types and me. Sorry Optimus," he said as he handed out the travel mugs, "I don't think you guys can drink this stuff."

"Thank you for the offer," the Prime replied.

"So let's begin," Zech called out as he smoothed down the snow between the two semis and Arcee.

Johnson sat down on Salcha's running board and Fowler mimicked his movement on Optimus. Jack crouched down beside Arcee wrapping his hands around the mug and staring expectantly at the tall Native American. Zech closed his eyes and for a moment appeared to be praying. Then he crouched down and drew a set of parallel lines in the snow.

"Please understand first that our ignorance of this matter far exceeds our knowledge, and none of what we claim to know could be called scientific. But there is an event that sometimes occurs that some among us can observe and react to and there are certain facts that we are aware of. This event is very dangerous. It centers around two people. These two people will be the only humans who are truly aware of what has happened. It is usually highly localized."

Zech paused and took a deep breath.

"Any questions so far?"

"So this event is localized around Darby and Salcha here?" Fowler asked.

"No, just Jack," Zech explained. "Sal appears to be," he hesitated a bit and his face scrunched up in thought, "temporally grounded."

"So the timeline was altered," Optimus stated softly, "changed from what it once was."

"Sort of," Zech corrected leaning forward. "Imagine a powerful river like the Columbia constantly flowing, carrying all of us along. We can perceive the present only, we can remember the past, we can speculate on the future; but we are essentially at the mercy of the current. Every so often a strong pylon is sunk into bed of the river," the trucker drew a small circle in the center of the parallel lines. "So long as it is whole the river flows easily around it, but it can be split." Zech smoothed over the drawing and drew two half circles about a foot apart. "The half that moves can be placed anywhere further down the river between the time of its original creation and the time it is used. This creates a breach in the flow between the two; the core of the time disturbance. The old time line and the new still exist but they are separated. The disturbance continues down past the second half of the pylon making the time stream," Zech paused again seeking the best English word, "disturbed, rough. That's the basics," he said with a sigh looking around at the gathering.

"There was an event," Optimus interjected. "In the previous time line Jack traversed time to interact with me. I cannot remember the point in time where he originated from but I can clearly recall when he arrived in the past."

"Like I said, this is more myth to us than science," Zech said with a frown. "But there have been records of people hanging on to early memories for a few moments. If the effects spread back in a linear fashion then your longer life spans might enable you to hold onto those older memories for longer. Until the shockwave reaches back that far in time."

"While this change has been disastrous to us personally," Optimus stated, "I do not see how it is inherently dangerous."

"No matter how strong the pylon is," the trucker said grimly, "the river is always stronger in the end. The time-stream will heal itself."

"But that's good right?" Jack asked in confusion.

"When the two differing time lines remerge there will be inconsistencies, and a discharge of energies," Zech explained. "A man would have been in one town and finds himself in another and a freak storm whips up from the displacement. A woman was cooking dinner but finds herself talking with a friend miles away. But the fire she left is still burning and catches something on fire. The longer the disturbance lasts the worse it becomes. You need to understand this hasn't happened in decades, and hasn't been common for centuries. Usually this was someone in a small village who wanted to change something and was too ignorant too know the danger. It was a geographically isolated event. But in this day and age where people travel easily across continents the effects would be even greater, possibly catastrophic."

"What if," Jack suddenly spoke up nervously, "what if it was something like a spaceship suddenly being yanked back to Earth from light years away?"

"That," Zech stated grimly, "could very well be an extinction level event."


	10. Surprises

**Trickster 9**

**Surprises**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction **

"How can we prevent this?" Optimus demanded quietly.

"The, ah, device," Zech continued carefully, "that was used as the pylon must be reunited. Usually it is a single physical object, but it might be two animals or plants. Whatever they are they give off a sort of energetic disturbance that humans and other animals can sense. It is supposed to be unpleasant making people avoid it automatically, even plants grow away from it. "

"How do we find them or it?" Fowler asked.

"That's the tricky part," Zech stated. "Most of these things were destroyed or neutralized centuries ago. There were a few rumored to be still out there but no one really knows where. The only clue we have is that the person who started this has some close relationship to Jack and he was the focus of some strong emotion."

"That's vaguely creepy," the raven haired youth muttered rubbing the back of his head.

"Is there any way to narrow it down?" Fowler asked.

"Mr. Franklin can do a scan of Mr. Darby," Johnson stated. "If the device is fairly close he might be able to help out with a general direction for the object."

"Also since we interacted quite a bit there is a very slim chance that I might be able to recognize the energy of the person on the other end of the link," Zech stated.

"Let's do it then," Jack stated standing and holding out his hands.

Zech nodded and stepped forward pulling off his gloves.

"Should I do anything?" Jack asked.

"Just relax."

The two young men clasped hands facing each other for a moment and suddenly Zech's face scrunched up.

"That's odd," he muttered releasing Jack's hands.

"That's not comforting," the youth pointed out.

"Well, whatever the pylon is it's too far away for me to sense but as for the living focal points I'm sensing three energy signals," the trucker stated in confusion.

"That's impossible," Johnson snapped.

"What have you been told about using that word?" Sal reprimanded the agent lightly. "Zech never gets this stuff wrong."

"One of them is clearly human, reasonably healthy, and is the other focal point of the disturbance," the trucker continued with a frown. "The other, is connected to you both and is distinctly not human."

"Why would there be a third?" Optimus asked.

"Well, this event was designed to work on humans. If the one to initiate the split wasn't then the device would have had to latch onto another human for balance," Zech mused, "meaning that both of them probably have some emotional connection to the nonhuman. The point is I don't recognize the other so you are going to have to figure that one out yourself."

"Will we need to find the third? And is it possible that the third is Cybertronian?" Fowler asked.

"I don't think it will be necessary," Zech responded slowly, "and it's actually quite probable. It would make sense that an alien wouldn't have the senses to feel the danger."

"So where do I start?" Jack asked.

"First you have to find the other human," Zech stated. "Then locate the object and reunite the physical halves. Bring it to Sal, he should remember all this after everything is said and done. If you can't find him for some reason make sure it gets to the head of the Department of the Interior. Either way it will be properly destroyed."

"So we have a plan!" Fowler declared tossing back the rest of his cocoa and standing up.

"And you need to move on it as soon as possible," Johnson stated grimly. "Even with the controlled release with every hour that passes the backlash from the temporal reuniting is going to get worse."

"Okay then," Zech stated, "let's get rolling. Sal and I will accompany you back to wherever your home base is and Johnson will head back to his office to provide support and liaise with Agent Fowler."

The trucker glanced at his brother in a bit of concern. The gunmetal grey semi had fallen silent at some point and the trucker could sense a growing discomfort. The female robot too had seemed to mentally detach from the conversation and retreat into silence.

"Sal? You ready to go?"

"What? Oh yes! Let's get going! I'll take down the tarps."

There was a definite eagerness to leave in the deep voice and Zech made a mental note to pry what was bothering his brother out of the big rig later. Johnson had disappeared in the traditional way of government spooks and Fowler was coaxing the unresponsive cycle-bot back into the trailer. Narrowing his dark eyes slightly the trucker nudged his partner, tilting his head toward the femme.

"Help out a little?" he whispered.

"Got it," Sal muttered back.

The truck reached out and playfully tweaked one of the little blue wings on her back.

"Hey! I've got an idea! Why doesn't the pretty little lady bot ride with us?"

Arcee's optics shuttered wide open and she snarled and lashed out at the strap, but Sal was expecting it this time and the flat tie zipped quickly back into his frame. With a huff of her vents the femme staggered up and into Optimus's trailer. The grey big rig quickly had the tarps down and re-rolled exposing them to the cold snow. Optimus opened his doors for Fowler and Jack, the special agent shook his head and muttered about having to do something before heading off through the woods. Jack jumped up eagerly into the warm cab and let the seatbelts wrap around him.

"May I use the radio?" he asked as Sal pulled out in front of them.

The dashboard flickered to life in response and Jack ran his fingers over the display pulling up the proper frequencies.

"Greydawn, Red Warrior; thanks for trail breaking for us."

*No problem Red Warrior; the snow is coming down but the highways are clear most of the way, we should be home in time for dinner,* Sal's voice came back over the airwaves.

In the cab of the lead rig Zech absently stroked the dash of the semi.

"Sal?"

"Yes?" there was a bit of trepidation in his voice.

"I am so very proud of you," the human patted the seats with a wide grin. "I could not believe the way you handled this."

"Well I freaked out way better the first time around," the big rig admitted freely. "I've had a lot of time to prepare."

"Still it is amazing. You made first contact with voidwalkers and helped me explain everything without giving anything important away!"

"Yes but I bungled it there at the end," Sal blurted out with trepidation in his voice.

"What are you talking about?" Zech asked.

"The little one," Sal whispered shamefully.

"Arcee?"

"Yes."

"What about her?"

"She was so damaged, so injured. I could smell the energon leaking out of her. I could smell her weakness," the last word was accompanied by a hungry growl.

Zech sighed and leaned back in his seat.

"So you found her tempting," he stated quietly.

"It was hard not to just grab her and start eating," Sal whimpered.

"Well, I'm glad you told me," Zech spoke soothingly, "and it's a little worrying to know that even after befriending one of them you still think of these as a food source. But I'm still impressed."

"Why? I was acting like an animal," Sal moaned.

"No, you were just feeling like one," his brother corrected firmly. "You never acted on those feelings. That's what counts in the end."

"Why do they have to be so tasty?" the deep voice whimpered.

"Well, for whatever reason I'm very proud of your self control," Zech repeated.

There was a moment of silence as the trucks rolled along before the elder Franklin spoke again.

"So how do you know what they taste like?"

"Heh, funny story that."

O

O

Zech had finally gotten Sal calmed down and in a fairly decent mood by the time they pulled into Jasper. Jack had transferred to Sal at Red Chief's Car Wash where the voidwalkers had left for their base. The trucker made a note to drop by his cousin's car wash later and give Sal a treat. The plan was to swing by the Darby house first and reassure Jack's mother that he had not been abducted by the Feds. The sprawling suburban area they pulled into was about what the trucker expected and he wasn't paying much attention to the surroundings as he carefully parked Sal where they wouldn't block the street. Jack leapt out almost before the truck had stopped rolling. The big rig usually preferred to let his brother drive in residential areas while he people watched. So it was with little surprise that he glanced up when Sal called his attention to something odd.

"That's a military rig Sal," Zech stated dismissively eyeing the green SUV, "Fowler probably had someone assigned to watch out for Mrs. Darby like they do at home when a class-three goes rouge. What the? Denali Sal! What's got you so worked up?"

A sound so low it was more felt than heard was rippling out of the semi's engine. It sent waves of fear through the Clansman and he gasped as he doubled over in pain.

"Sal!" he gasped out. "Subsonics!"

The sound died down to an endurable level and the Franklin lifted his head and stared over as Jack moved towards his front door.

"Zech," Sal stated coldly. "Get the .45 out and get to Jack now."

The human nodded and pulleded the weapon out, strapping it under his leather flight coat with the ease of long practice as he leapt out of the cab and darted forward to walk by Jack's side as they approached the house. The raven haired youth looked slightly surprised but only smiled as they jogged up the steps. Zech angled himself to cover his entrance as Jack walked in the front door.

"Hey Mom!" Jack called out, "we're home. The pickup trip went well. Fowler will be back in-"

Jack stopped dead and Zech could smell the fear that radiated off of him. A tall man, clearly military despite being in civilian clothes, was sitting at the kitchen table with June Darby smiling as they sipped at tea.

"Jack!" June smiled as she stood. "this is-"

"Colonel Leland Bishop," the man stated with a smirk creasing his scared face. "It's a pleasure to see you again Mr. Darby."


	11. Assignment

**Trickster 10**

**Assignment**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction **

"Colonel," Jack said slowly as he stared at the man in front of him his brain whirling over what he knew. "It's a surprise to see you."

"I imagine it is," the man stated drily. "Come and sit Darby. I was just briefing this utterly enchanting woman on the situation."

The raven haired youth fought down a snarl of rage and stepped forward, only to bump into Zech. The tall trucker was flashing a wide grin at Mrs. Darby and her guest but what got Jack's attention was the hard bulge he felt under the thick leather flight jacket. The raven haired youth suddenly felt calmer and turned back to the table.

"Mom," he said forcing a cheerful grin. "This is Zechariah Franklin. He is helping out Agent Fowler with hauling. I was going to invite him to dinner."

"Of course," she greeted the newcomer with a smile as she stood to shake his hand. "I hope you like organic tofu?"

"Mrs. Darby," the trucker said politely. "I'm hungry enough to eat a horse. That sounds properly delicious."

"I'll get it cooking then," she said brightly giving Jack a quick kiss as she went into the kitchen.

As she passed Jack felt the tenseness in her body. The observant nurse knew something was wrong. The raven haired youth smiled grimly at the ex-soldier as he carefully sat down across the table from him. Zech kept a perfectly calm look on his face as he leaned against the wall.

"Nice field of fire you've given yourself Mr. Franklin," Silas commented lightly.

The trucker grunted and crossed his arms, smile never wavering.

"Airachnid."

The utterly calm word drew both men's attention back to the raven haired youth who sat staring thoughtfully across the table.

"Come again?" the traitor replied with a quirked eyebrow.

"A Cybertronian who has a strong emotional connection to you and me both," Jack continued calmly. "There would be no reason for you to be here unless it was her who triggered the change. The only problem is that in my timeline she was in Autobot custody."

"Downstream ripple effect," Zech supplied without taking his eyes off of Silas. "She might have preformed the actual deed weeks, even months ago. It would have taken time before the changes caught up with you."

"So I gather that you have a better grip on the situation than I do," the traitor stated calmly sipping his tea.

"That depends," Jack replied evenly. "How much do you know?"

"I suddenly found myself at my desk with no idea how I got there, all the electronics within a fifty foot radius were dead, and much to my surprise all the diligent work I had done gathering Cybertronian technology over the past several months was nowhere to be found. Investigating one lead at a time led me to you and your lovely mother."

Zech shifted slightly, reminding both the outraged Jack and the smug Silas that he was there.

"I can't believe this," Jack hissed rubbing his face tiredly. The raven haired youth turned to Zech and demanded. "I have to work with him?"

"There is no doubt and there is no other way," the older human stated evenly. "Only the two of you working together will be able to fix this."

"It would seem that the two of you have me at a distinct disadvantage," Silas said smoothly, eyeing the subtle bulge under Zech's coat.

The traitor looked into the trucker's face; measuring what he saw and the younger man matched his gaze evenly. When he was done Silas made it a point to keep his hands where Zech could see them.

"So why don't you fill me in?" the ex-soldier continued calmly, eyes returning to Jack.

"I think we should wait until Fowler gets back before we tell you anything," the raven haired youth replied stiffly. "But feel free to let us in on what you know."

"Ah ah, Mr. Darby; quid pro quo. Now, you have let slip that Airachnid is involved so I will tell you this. I know where she is."

"Mr. Franklin," Mrs. Darby interrupted as she walked in holding a steaming mug, "do you like tea?"

"Immensely," he replied holding out his right hand for the cup but not taking his eyes off of Silas.

"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes," she said with a warm smile. "Jack would you please come help me with the plates?"

"Sure thing Mom," Jack answered, carefully rising without taking his eyes off of Silas.

"Jack?" June demanded softly once they were in the kitchen. "What is going on?"

Jack turned to look at the cupboard as he pulled out the dishes, mulling over what to tell her. The raven haired youth abhorred lying to his mother. The few times he had had only reinforced his dislike of deceit. On the other hand he did not want her to worry any more than was necessary and he was going to be spending a large amount of time with a dangerous traitor who had proven that he placed little value on human life. Taking a deep breath Jack turned and faced her.

"I'm sorry about how tense everything is Mom. Fowler is convinced now and he needs my help with something."

"Oh, believe me we are going to discuss you running off with Fowler but right now I'm concerned about Colonel Creepy back there," the nurse stated darkly.

Jack flinched and glanced at the door to the dining room.

"He is a dangerous man," the youth stated evenly, "one you should avoid if at all possible but he knows the risks involved so he'll cooperate."

The woman grabbed his shoulder and spun Jack around to face her.

"And what risks would those be?" she demanded.

"I'll explain later Mom," he replied smiling at her reassuringly. "For now I just need to talk to Silas, I mean Colonel Bishop and the tofu is getting cold."

The look she gave him as he carried the plates out to the table clearly stated that they weren't done with the conversation by a long shot. While the meal lasted the scar faced man was the epitome of politeness. Jack marveled at the charm and charisma he seemed to radiate. Having only seen the man in a combat situation before it was entirely disconcerting to watch the terrorist easily chatting with his mother. It was no wonder the man was able to sway soldiers and malcontents to his cause, the raven haired youth mused grimly. Despite knowing what he did about the madman and his methods Jack couldn't help but find his opinion being swayed by his presence. When the meal was over the youth was at least relieved to see that his mother had calmed down considerably.

"So Mr. Darby," Silas said smoothly as he stood. "As enchanting as the company has been I am afraid that you and I have important matters to discuss. Ms. Darby, I have greatly enjoyed your hospitality."

"You have been the perfect guest," she replied with a wary smile.

"Now shall we go for a walk?" the terrorist asked Jack.

The raven haired youth nodded and smiled reassuringly at his Mom before following Silas out the front door. Zech hesitated a bit before turning and gripping June's hands reassuringly.

"Don't worry Maam," he said with an intense look. "I'll watch out for him."

June blinked in surprise at both the sentiment and how reassuring it actually was coming from the large trucker who was essentially a stranger, but as he turned to follow the other two men out of the house she found herself very glad he was watching out for her son.

Out on the driveway Jack was talking intently into his phone while Silas waited nearby with a slightly amused smile on his face. Jack finished up his call and turned to Zech with a frown.

"Fowler's been delayed," he said flatly. "Something is going on in Washington.

"Unfortunately we can't wait," the trucker stated flatly. "Every second you delay the backlash is going to grow worse. We have to fill in your opposite now and get moving. There is little Fowler could do now anyway."

Nodding and taking a deep breath Jack filled in what he knew to the ex-soldier, carefully editing the information for anything the terrorist might use against his friends. Silas listened with a grim look of suspicion forming on his face.

"If at any point you are going to start laughing at my expense now would be a good time," he finally said.

Jack only glared at him.

"Very well then; I suppose it's my turn for the quid pro quo. I remember the fight between my remote controlled device and your Optimus. After that everything is, hazy," the man paused and frowned as if trying to recapture a memory.

"You were pretty badly beat up after that," Jack mused. "I'm assuming they had you on life support."

"That would make sense but I also had the strangest sensation of being impossibly powerful," Silas as they continued their slow walk towards the silent grey semi.

"Drugs will do that to you," Jack stated dryly.

"True enough," the older man assented. "Is this one of them?" he asked eying Sal.

"No," Jack stated flatly. "Now what do you know about Airachnid's location?"

"I came to a few days ago," the terrorist began carefully studying the grey big rig. "Only to find that M.E.C.H. had never managed to capture a Transformer and our scientific advances were proportionally retarded. All the work we had done was wiped away. But my people and I apparently had been tracking the movement of the creatures. There are reports of a new spider god who can take to the air and fly appearing in the Quinghai province of China."

"So she's living it up as a god," Jack muttered glancing at Zech.

The trucker was nodding slowly.

"That makes sense," he mused. "Traditionally the magi in the area have had the skills to forge the devices, and if that is the case it means it will be an artifact of clay, perhaps an idol or a tablet. Here," he jumped into the cab and fished something out of a box, "you'll need this."

"Let me get this straight," Silas stated grimly staring at what the trucker held, "we are supposed to fix a disruption in the space-time continuum with super glue and duct tape?"

"Of course; what else would you use?"

Whatever the terrorist thought of the idea was drowned out as Jack's phone rang. At the same time a device on Silas's side began to buzz and a cheerful tone came from Sal's cab. The three men exchanged confused looks and activated their cell phones. Almost as one they stiffened in shock as a familiar screechy voice cam over the three speakers.

*Citizens of Earth! Prepare to be subjugated by the mighty Decepticon army led by their glorious leader Starscream!*


	12. Separation

**Trickster 11**

**Separation**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction **

"This is being broadcast on all frequencies," Silas growled as Greydawn's wheels rolled over the cracked asphalt. "How is your vaunted Prime going to know we're coming?"

The grating voice of the self proclaimed Lord of the Decepticons came over the radio on every broadcast channel demanding the immideat surrender of . The CB bands were still clear; a fact the military had been quick to take advantage of and now the transmissions of troop positions, whispers of counterattacks, but mainly evacuation orders for all the large cities. Jack cursed his own blind spots. He had completely forgotten that the Decepticons were still out there even without Megatron. A smaller, more rational part of his mind stated that there was nothing he could have done even if he had known but still the youth felt a sense of failure for having lost sight of the larger picture.

"He has been contacted and a meeting location arranged," Zech stated flatly.

The trucker was not just making a pretense of driving this time. Sal was concentrating entirely on communicating with Optimus.

"Oh yes, the vaunted skills of the Northclan," Silas drawled easily. "I'm sure your ancient voodoo comes in handy in the face of overwhelmingly superior technology."

Zech shot him a narrow look; shock mingled with anger before returning his eyes to the road.

"Yes I know of your little secret club," the terrorist snorted. "Most men in my line of work do. I always find it amazing how much credence people who are otherwise perfectly rational put into your fairy tales."

Jack glanced warily between the two older men. Silas seemed to be pushing for some sort of response from the trucker and the Clansman appeared to be holding something in. Suddenly the CB crackled to life.

*Greydawn, Red Warrior.*

Flooded with relief Jack leaned forward and snatched up the mic.

"Red Warrior, Greydawn."

*As you are aware of the situation I will be brief,* Optimus's deep voice came over the airwaves. *Starscream has granted the UN three days to bring a united answer to him regarding the capitulation of your species. I will be relocating to a human military base to assist in organizing the resistance. Salcha has informed me that you have found the other human necessary to finish your task?*

"Yeah, we got him," Jack replied glancing over at Silas.

*That is good. It is the opinion of Agent Fowler and myself that you should continue in your quest. However we will be unable to aid you.*

Jack clenched his hands and took a deep breath.

"I understand," he stated grimly. "We will get right on that. Could you let my Mom know what we are doing? I had to leave without talking to her."

*Will do kid,* Fowler's voice came over the radio. *You just focus on setting everything right.*

"I thought you didn't put much faith in this," the youth responded in surprise.

*When all you got is straws to cultch at kid, the biggest straw looks pretty good.*

*Jackson,* Optimus's voice came one last time. *Go with Primus.*

"You as well, Optimus," Jack whispered as he put the mic back, "with you as well."

Silence fell in the semi as they drove alone; none wishing to intrude on the grief and strain obvious in the raven haired youth's face. Suddenly all the electronics in the cab flickered and there was a low grinding from the engine and smoke began to seep out around the hood. Zech let out an exclamation and pulled over to the side of the road.

"It would appear that these Decepticons are attempting to limit out mobility," Silas stated drily as he got out to examine the damage with the other two.

Zech warned him away from the engine with a glare and began tinkering around the battery.

"As skilled as I am certain you are we do not have time for this," the terrorist declared, pulling out a small device and hitting a button.

"What's that?" Zech demanded.

"Our ride," the terrorist stated smugly. "You just keep working on your rig trucker."

Within minutes a sleek green driverless sedan pulled up beside them. Zech frowned down at it from his perch before swinging into Sal's cab.

"Get in Mr. Darby," Silas stated curtly as he pulled open the driver's door.

"I can't just abandon Optimus and Zech," the raven haired youth protested taking a step back from the car.

Almost quicker than Jack could follow the former soldier had spun and held him pinned to the side of Sal's cab. The youth brought his hands up to defend himself but found them easily restrained.

"Let's get one thing straight Mr. Darby," Silas growled ominously. "You do not have a choice."

Jack's heart was racing and every detail stood out in sharp relief as he faced the fierce visage but to his surprise he felt no fear. Probably because of the comforting presence of Sal against his back, he mused. After a moment the grip on his shirt loosened and a grim smile pulled at the corners of Silas's mouth.

"You've got a pair," the terrorist admitted grudgingly, "but it still stands. You are not abandoning our commander and unit. No matter how much you want to play the hero and protect your friends you need to follow orders and do your duty. Right now you are the only one who can do the job assigned."

Jack fought down the urge to deny the truth in what the man said. As much as it galled him he knew they needed to get going and with the world militaries focused on defending the cities against the Decepticons M.E.C.H.'s substantial resources was his best chance of reaching his destination. Jack felt a wave of aggression coming from behind him and absently patted the semi's side to sooth him.

"Here Jack," Zech's voice cut in as Silas released him. "Take this."

The trucker handed him a well stuffed backpack.

"Emergency food, a change of clothes, and basic survival gear; it should help you out wherever you are going. Consider it a traveling gift from the Franklin's."

"Thanks Zech, wish you were going with me," Jack replied.

Zech pulled the younger man into a warm embrace and for a moment simply offered him the comfort of a trusted presence, then he whispered so only Jack could hear.

"He's a dangerous man Jack; he will get you there but trust no one. Go and give all of your attention to your mission knowing we will be fine."

The two separated and Jack got into the sedan. The green car pulled out and accelerated down the road. The trucker stared out after them for a moment and then glanced sharply at his brother.

"This is not good," the human muttered.

"Could you be a tiny bit more specific?" Sal asked, deep voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Silas knew of the Clan, but didn't know enough to fear us."

"So? He's in contention for a Darwin Award, it happens," the big rig growled.

"He's the head of a major terrorist organization," Zech pointed out eyes narrowing. "Exactly the kind of group the Clan makes sure knows to avoid us. Either the Teachers were never told of them or the Lesson was less than effective. Whichever way it is not a good sign."

"Zech," Sal started hesitantly. "I, there's something else, but I think I'll wait till this is all fixed to tell you."

"Okay," the trucker was so caught up in his own thoughts that he ignored the deep emotion rolling under his brother's voice.

With a grunt of satisfaction the big rig fired up his engine and pulled forward.

"What was that Sal?" he demanded.

"What was what?"

"There is nothing wrong with your engine," Zech stated flatly as he leapt up into the driver's seat.

"Nope," the big rig rumbled as he pulled out down the highway. "There was that pulse that knocked my electronics offline though."

"Except you have redundancies to get around that," the trucker pointed out.

"Optimus needs us," Sal stated flatly, cutting through the usual banter he needed to communicate, "and I don't want the traitor knowing where we're going."

"What?" his brother asked in shock.

"The most we could do for Jack is escort him to the coast," the semi explained grimly. "There is no way the Others in the trench would have allowed me to cross the Pacific. They were throwing a fit when we took the ferry down the coast. As it is they are already sensing the fear in the human population and responding to it. Sooner or later something is going to spot the voidwalkers and what do they always go after first?"

"The injured and the weak," Zech growled slow realization dawning.

"Optimus is going to have to cross half the continent to get to the central command," Sal continued. "I might not be able to protect Jack from the voidwalkers, but I can protect Optimus from the Others. He won't even make it through Colorado without protection. I've already told him we'll meet on ninety-five."

Zech stared in silent fascination at the dashboard. What he was witnessing, what he had witnessed over the past few days in his brother was more than surprising; according to everything he had been taught it was impossible. A slow grin spread over his face and he smacked the dash with a laugh.

"Let's roll Bro, we have a voidwalker to watch out for."


	13. Dangers

**Trickster 12**

**Developments**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

"You are a quiet one," the man called Silas observed as the green sedan sped over the smooth asphalt.

Jack offered no response. His attention was lingering on the bright star that was Optimus slowly fading into the distance. His new awareness of the bond they shared made it both easier to find the Prime over distances and more painful to be separated when he knew the great mech was headed into danger. The thought of losing a father again, so soon after he had discovered him, coiled a knot of tension in his gut. Somehow focusing on the distant but steady presence of the Prime calmed him. It also allowed him to ignore the galling alliance with the man who had kidnapped his mother. The human was jerked out of his reverie with a gasp as the car swung to the side with a squeal of tires. Silas cursed and Jack followed his gaze to the dark shape that had appeared on the road.

"What is that," the terrorist growled as he glared in the direction of the obstruction.

"What do you see?" Jack asked wearily, in recent months he had gotten better at determining where his senses deviated from the general populations but it still never hurt to check.

"A shadow with nothing casting it," Silas growled casting the youth a suspicious glance.

"It's a predator," Jack explained shortly. "Fangs, claws, about the size of a horse; probably hunts humans. It usually looks for weaker prey than you or me but this one looks hungry and desperate."

The raven haired youth suddenly stiffened and leaned forward with a low growl.

"It noticed us?" Silas guessed.

"Give me a minute," Jack stated flatly unbuckling and stepping out of the car without taking his eyes of the indistinct creature.

He had never seen this particular kind before, or heard of it from the lessons Zech had been giving him, but the trucker had told him of the general type and he was able to surmise much from what he could feel of the creature's life force. These creatures were thoughtless predators like sharks, but lacking the sense of self preservation that kept more conventional hunters from attacking at random. The human took a deep breath and flared his own energy; not too fiercely, just enough to let the predator know that he wasn't an easy meal. He could sense the hesitation in the indistinct beast for a moment before hunger won out over caution and it charged. Jack released the power that had been building in his hands and the energy caught the beast at its core dropping it instantly. The creature faded out of the human's range of awareness and he drew a breath of relief before sliding back into the green sedan.

"It's taken care of," he said shortly to the terrorist.

Silas gave him a searching look but only grunted and pulled the car forward again.

"Will we be seeing more of those?" the older man asked.

"We shouldn't have seen that one," Jack replied with a frown. "Something is very wrong. To be visible at all to you it must have come up fast; it still smelled of somewhere else." He gave Silas a long look, wondering how much the scientifically minded man would believe, and continued. "There is no way to tell what we'll meet."

"I'll leave that to you then," the ex-soldier flashed him a predatory grin. "You keep your eyes open for the things that go boomp and I'll get us to Quinghai."

Jack nodded but his attention was already reaching out for Optimus's spark again; seeking the comforting warmth of the Prime's presence.

O

O

*Greydawn,* Optimus called out as they rolled along the highway. *You are dropping behind.*

Ever since the Franklins had caught up with them the other big rig had taken it upon himself to torment Arcee subtly over the radio from where she rode in Optimus's trailer. The Prime might have intervened but his last remaining Autobot had not requested it and she was showing more spirit responding to Sal's verbal barbs than she had in months. So it was with some worry the red and blue big rig noted his companion drop behind.

*Yeah, gotta take care of something Optimus,* the death colored semi called out absently. *Don't worry about it, just a little Earth thing.*

*Acknowledged, out.*

With that confirmation the Prime refocused his attention on the flow of information coming from the low frequency radio waves. The CB radios that Starscream had considered below his notice were now serving as the main communication source for the human militaries. The three nations that compromised this continent where working together to confront the alien invasion but had only sporadic contact with their allies across the oceans. Despite Optimus's reluctance to involve them there was no choice now.

The human governments had tried negotiation at first and had been pleased when Starscream had listened to the placating words of their diplomats. However when he had stated his demands; full control of their infrastructure and the immediate reduction of their population to a quarter of its current size, they had begun quietly mobilizing their armies. With the Nemesis shielded however, that meant they were restricted to retaliation against whatever the Decepticons chose to throw at them. In preparation their forces were being carefully scattered over the continent while the diplomats stayed on smooth talking Starscream in hopes of buying time.

Optimus felt his spark clench as he listened to their plans flowing back and forth, offering what advice he could to maximize the damage to the Decepticons and save as many human lives as possible. The situation was so very familiar to him; soldiers preparing for battle. Yet here it was tainted with galling tragedy. There was no way the humans would be able to mount a prolonged defense against the might of the Decepticons, and they knew it. He observed organized troop movements that were not spoken of over the airwaves, as they did not really trust that the Decepticons were ignorant of them; weapons and soldiers being put in reserve for the time of resistance.

The voice of his tactician whispered that even if these human fell they would not remain down for long, but that offered little comfort for what he knew was coming. The suffering and death that would result from even what might be termed a victory on the human's part. Soon, if it had not happened already, Starscream would see through the human's ruse and begin to decimate the population in earnest.

He had failed yet again. Optimus; the last, the least, of the Primes. He had failed to unite his people allowing the war to ignite. He had failed to end the war before it destroyed the planet and now he had failed to prevent the destruction of yet another culture.

"Hey voidwalker! What's gives?"

The harsh voices jerked the Cybertronian out of his introspection as the dark grey semi pulled up beside him. Some viscous yellow fluid dripped Salcha's bumper and undercarriage and the big rig was noisily cleaning something darker off of his tie straps. Fresh claw marks were scoured across his armor giving the Prime pause but the strange being didn't seem to recognize such small pains.

"I asked what gives?" the big rig demanded with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

Optimus snapped his attention back to his companion's words and gave a tired exvent. Fowler and the Franklin human had both fallen asleep exhausted so the two of them were essentially alone.

"I was simply musing on how my failures have led to yet another species being enslaved by my kind," he let out tiredly. "I am sorry but-ah?"

The Prime flinched away as Sal gave an aggravated snort and sideswiped him in annoyance. The resulting jolt shocked the humans awake but both willingly fell back into sleep after being assured nothing was wrong on Fowler's part and that Optimus had had it coming on Zech's.

"Shut whatever you use for a pie hole voidwalker," the other semi growled. "This is no time to be wasting energy with useless self-recminali… with useless blaming yourself for things. You hungry?"

"I, my energon reserves are adequate," Optimus replied still unsure what to make of the odd mood swings of this being.

"Good, looks like the coast is clear for awhile. I'll trail-blaze and you stay close behind me. We'll make better time that way and you'll save energy."

Without further comment to the Prime the gunmetal grey semi pulled forward and surged ahead. Within minutes the big rig had managed to pick a fight with Arcee, something about eating beings that could talk back to you. Optimus gave an exasperated exvent but allowed himself to focus completely on organizing the human forces, content that their strange protector would keep them safe for now.


	14. Combat and Consumption

**Trickster 13**

**Combat and Consumption **

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

By the time they reached the far side of the California Coast Ranges the cities had begun to burn. Great plumes of smoke rose from the centers of human population and once darkness fell the clouds were lit orange with the light of raging infernos. The skies were empty of the long wispy jet contrails that had been a constant in Jack's life, with only an occasional squad of seekers streaking from one point of destruction to another.

All of the main roads were clogged with frantic people fleeing the devastation. Silas drove them through back roads and nearly forgotten ways to avoid the masses. He had explained to Jack that the engines in all M.E.C.H. vehicles were specially insulated against electromagnetic attacks. The few other cars on the road were military rigs herding the refugees out towards the countryside. During the few times they were stopped the ex-soldier had used his former rank to get them passage.

A few times things not visible to Silas had approached the car but Jack had been able to note and warn them off fairly easily, each had been an annoying interruption on his monitoring Optimus. Jack had caught the ex-soldier glaring at him contemplatively a few times but had resolutely ignored him the same way the raven haired youth did the weaker creatures that flickered across his awareness.

It was something of a shock to Jack when Silas stopped the car. The raven haired youth had lost track of time and when they stepped out of the car he could smell the sea blowing up the densely forested canyon they were in. The pavement had long since given way to gravel and then dirt roads. In the ravine below Jack could see water; a river or perhaps an inlet shrouded by waves of ivy which started high in the great redwoods that surrounded them and reached down to stretch its tendrils across the blue waves.

"Come here," Silas ordered and the youth followed absently.

The blow that struck his ribcage knocked the wind out of him and stunned Jack enough that the world went momentarily black. When he was able to see again his stomach lurched. Below him was empty air and the distant crashing of surf on rocks. The brawny traitor was holding him by his neck suspended over the cliff edge. The younger man clawed frantically at the hand that held him in a vice like grip until it occurred to him that if he succeeded it would only mean a fall to certain death below. Jack went limp and glared defiantly at the scared face before him. With a sneer Silas jerked back and Jack found himself on his knees gasping for air.

"Now," the older man demanded leaning threateningly over the younger. "How did that happen?"

"I was careless," Jack rasped massaging his throat. "I wasn't paying attention to you and you sucker punched me."

"You weren't paying attention to anything! I don't know what you are mooning about kid but as long as my life is depending on it you had better be alert to what is going on," Silas snarled shoving the youth back towards the cliff. "How many of those beings did you react to on the way here?"

"About a dozen," Jack answered inching away from the danger of the drop-off only to be stopped by a heavy boot.

"And how many did you miss because you were moping about that living machine we left behind?" the ex-soldier demanded.

"I don't know," the raven hired youth ground out.

"Listen kid," Silas leaned ominously over him. "We have a job to do and you know better than I do how important it is. Do you see that?" he pointed towards a pillar of smoke rising to the north. "That was San Francisco kid. That smell on the wind is the chard flesh of millions of people burning. Now right now you are liability to my mission and if I had a choice I would pitch you over to join them right now. As that is not an option I need you to think about this. How much harder are you going to make me work to get this job done?"

With that Silas spun on his heel and marched into the brush. Jack staggered up, face burning from the pain and humiliation, but most of all from the bitter fact that the terrorist was right. He had been letting his own childish need for reassurance and comfort distract him from the mission and it was a small miracle that it hadn't gotten them both killed. The youth tried to ignore the throbbing pain in his neck and focused on following the broad shoulders through the brush.

They walked down and ancient cracked set of stone stairs and through a worn wooden door set into the rocks. By the time they reached the end of the dim passageway the scent of salt water filled the damp space. There poking out of the water was a rust covered green buoy. Jack frowned but followed obediently certain that the ex-soldier would not be wasting their time. Silas leapt onto the battered signal, reached in to open a hatch on the base metal, and disappeared inside. Jack blinked in surprise but then shrugged and followed suit.

He wasn't sure what he had been expecting but a Cadillac fishbowl wasn't it. They were clearly in a submersible but it was like none he had ever seen. The skin of the craft was clear as fine glass and there was just enough room for a tall man to stand easily in the narrow walk way. Jack was torn between gaping at the view below him and gawping at the comfortable leather seats and state of the art, minimalist controls. The computers that ran the vessel were at the center of the craft with the entire space about the length of a minivan. Silas curtly explained what controls did what and Jack nodded his understanding.

"We will head out, sticking to the Monterey Bay Canyon until we reach the open ocean. I doubt they will have sensors for something so deep."

"Why that route?" Jack asked with a frown.

"It's how the Russians used to sneak their mini subs up to spy on our coast. Any sounds this beauty makes will be lost in the canyons. Is there a problem?"

"Wait what?" Jack demanded blinking.

"There's more to what went on during the cold war than what they teach in history books kid," the ex-colonel snorted.

"No, but Russian spies aside there are things in the ocean; especially the deep parts and the trenches like that canyon are the worst. With everything as active as it is there is no way we'll be able to avoid them all."

"So Decepticons or boogiemen," the traitor drawled slowly eyeing the youth.

It took several minutes for Jack to realize that he was being asked to make a choice. Taking a deep breath he sat down in the co-pilot chair.

"We'll take the canyons," he said grimly.

Silas nodded curtly and without a noise the submersible began to move down and forward. Beneath Jack the seat shifted and flexed against him. The youth adjusted it to his liking and relaxed, reaching out with all of his senses. Just being on the coast was a rare treat for him let alone moving so swiftly through the depths. Already the light blue of the surface had given way to the darker hues of the depths. For all he knew what he was sensing was normal. But over his training with Zech he had learned that every ecosystem has its own equilibrium and one could tell if it was off. The urgency and disorientation, the bloodlust and unrest that surrounded the small craft clearly showed that something was very wrong and the sea knew.

Something hungry approached from the south. It was massive but only stirred the water slightly. It smelled of deep places and dead creatures. Jack flared his own energy to touch the thing letting it know that they were not to be trifled with, and nearly vomited. The creature was impossibly old, unbelievably powerful. There was no malice in its hunger, no anger in its hunting but there was no doubt they were the target of its mindless hunger. Almost without thinking Jack sent out an emergency pulse. At first nothing changed then the creature paused and slid off in another direction. Jack gasped in relief and slumped in his seat.

"Do I want to know what just happened?" Silas asked without looking up from his controls.

"No," the youth whispered hoarsely in reply.

The older man left it at that and Jack returned to searching the surrounding waters. He had not scared off the deep dweller but something had and he needed to know what. Three fierce and bright stars appeared behind him and he gasped again as their fierce energy surrounded them. Silas shot him a glance but said nothing. Jack felt warmth and curiosity coming from around him and when he sent out a questioning pulse the cabin was suddenly filled with a beautiful song. Jack spun in his chair and realized that the light was coming from the middle of a pod of whales. He couldn't name the species but one of the stars that followed them split off and moved to hover over the submarine that was rapidly leaving the cetaceans behind. A wave of reassurance flowed over him and he breathed a little easier.

Whatever that was it had a connection to the Clan and recognized him as a friend. It probably wouldn't follow them out of its own territory though and there were almost certainly more powerful beings. Jack shuddered and rubbed his still sore neck. He would really have to thank Silas for snapping him out of his self centered funk, it had already saved their lives most likely. He glanced over at the terrorist and decided later was fine.

O

O

Salcha Franklin was having a better time than he could have imagined possible. Over the course of the journey he had battled and defeated at least six creatures that had tried to take out Optimus. Four of them had been not only edible but juicy enough that he had managed to secrete several gallons of bio-fuel into his reserve tanks even after filling his main tanks. There was just something so satisfying about going into battle with a peer he mused as the grey big rig crunched happily on a femur. While his chosen form was very useful it had limited the Clan creature to roads, and that excluded him from most of the fights to protect his family, but when dealing with the Autobots it was a distinct advantage. Now he sat on the tarmac surrounding a system of underground caverns.

Optimus and Arcee had disappeared into a bunker a few moments ago presumably to aid the humans in their fight against the voidwalkers. Zech had gone with them to get a feel for the place but both brothers were pretty sure that it would be safe. Clansmen tended to join the military at a greater rate than the average population. As a result most Army bases like this one were well defended against the Others. The larger Franklin knew he would be much more useful patrolling the perimeter for things that had scented and followed the weakened Prime. The femur was merely the first of the fruits of his labor. The rest of the faux deer that had been hunting the area had gotten away leaving Sal the tasty snack. Feeling very smug indeed the gunmetal grey semi paused in his rounds to discreetly spray a bit of musk on a nearby tree. From now until Optimus left this place it was Franklin territory; woe betide any who dared cross its defender.


	15. Mercy

**Trickster 14**

**Mercy**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

Jack idly wondered if the strange submersible carried vomit bags. The smooth motion provided by the soundless engines certainly was not causing his stomach to lurch painfully; rather it was the view outside the clear bubble. The speed with which they had crossed the great expanse of the Pacific Ocean had astounded the youth. Many of the dangers he had sensed they had avoided by the simple fact that by the time the creatures had noted them they were long gone. Other, quicker, dangers had been warned off by whatever less malicious creature had had the humans under its protection. Like some sort of aquatic relay race they had been handed off from one guardian to another. Their current escort had fled once they reached the fresh water of the Yellow River.

It was perfectly logical, a small detached part of Jack's mind mused, that an invading force would focus its power on major population centers. Therefore China, with its mass of industry and people would have been a major target from the get-go. However the tactical whispers were being rapidly lost in the screams that were trying to burst out of his skull.

"You okay kid?"

Silas's harsh voice cut through the revulsion and pain in Jack's mind. There was no way he was letting the terrorist catch him off guard again. So he nodded weakly and took a deep breath.

"If you need to puke do it. There's no shame in it, not under these circumstances."

The raven haired youth shot a surprised look at the ex-soldier and was shocked to see that the scar covered face was looking at him with something he had yet to see on it; not compassion. No, the eyes were too hard for that, but perhaps understanding. Sensing the confusion the burly man shrugged.

"The human body and psych are what they are. If this," he jerked his head towards the bodies floating past the submersible in various states of decay and dismemberment, "didn't mess with your head you wouldn't be stable enough to be trustworthy."

Jack nodded in acceptance but dropped his head and breathed deeply to calm his queasy stomach. He was almost under control when a pair of bodies drifted past. They were in good condition; a girl of perhaps twelve holding a toddler to her chest in a death grip. The raven haired youth gave up at that point and emptied his last meal into the container.

He didn't open his eyes for a while after that but extended his awareness out to monitor the river around them. Something began to nag at his awareness as soon as he focused. Dead bodies gave off no life force after a few hours but the water was alive with the pulsing glow of the native creatures. Everything was glowing and slightly out of focus. Living creatures from microbes to crayfish to large fish swarmed and clustered around the bodies, feasting on the decay. He could make out the vague shapes of humans by the bacteria that were swiftly returning their flesh to dust. However, all that he expected. There was something else; something wasn't there. With a frown Jack realized that everything he was seeing belonged to the scientific world. There were none of the dark creatures that flickered in the deeper ocean.

Leaning back and studying his surroundings carefully Jack mulled over this realization. One of the basic tenants of nature he has learned is that there are no empty spaces. Even in the bone dry desert around the Autobot base life teamed. In a river choked with death and rot like this the otherworldly scavengers should have been swarming the corpses. So something else must be here; something dangerous enough to scare away the lesser creatures. The raven haired youth strained his senses attempting to extend them through the translucency that surrounded the boat. He gave a frustrated grunt and slumped in the seat. Taking a deep breath he changed tactics. He relaxed and simply let the thrumming pulse of the river surround him hoping to bring himself into sync with the waters. The steady beat soothed him like a heartbeat. Suddenly Jack snapped his eyes open going stiff.

"Breathe Darby," Silas ordered not taking his eyes off of steering the craft.

"Around the next bend we need to surface," the youth stated flatly.

Silas looked at him sharply. The terrorist seemed inclined to mention the likely possibility of meeting a Seeker sweep in the air above but decided against it when he saw the determined look etched into his companion's face. The bubble rose smoothly and breached the surface with a barely noticeable ripple. Jack climbed the ladder that pulled down from the hatch and stepped out onto the small deck. The stench of the river hit him like a wave but he fought through it. Carefully he sent out a questing pulse. It was a generic greeting Zech had taught him; very formal, very respectful. A loose translation would be 'please don't kill me'.

Several seconds stretched out before the river in front of him began to bubble and froth. Slowly and with great dignity a massive head rose out of the filthy river. Golden scales gleamed on a muzzle easily as long as the craft the humans rode in. A long flowing mane fell around the glowing silver eyes, starting at the crown of the head and disappearing into the water.

For what seemed like an eternity the river dragon simply stared at the youth. Jack fought the urge to bolt back into the sub. It felt as if the ancient being was searching his very soul. Every selfish thing the human had done, every promise he had broken, every lie he had told seemed to be pass through his awareness. He realized he was on his knees, gasping and still looking up at the creature. Finally the dragon blinked and the human began to breathe again. The great head dipped low and a voice rose out of the waters around him.

"You are the human who must restore the flow of the Great River."

It was a statement rather than a question.

"I am," Jack replied his words more a question than a statement.

A rumble of displeasure boiled out of the great maw and Jack shivered.

"I will guide and protect you for the duration of your journey. Follow my waters to where I am small and clear. The village you seek will be just three days walk to the direction of the setting sun and the north star."

Jack nodded as images began to play through his mind.

"Once you leave my waters you will leave my protection. Know this, you will face many dangers but the greatest will be the ones you carry within you. Your greatest protection will lie in remembering what you are."

With that last bit of cryptic warning the dragon slipped into the water leaving a confused and shaking human in its wake. Slowly Jack stood and stumbled down the ladder. Somehow, despite everything, his strongest impression was one of familiarity. He could not shake the feeling that he had met the being, or at least one very like it, before. He gave Silas the directions and informed the older man that he would be sleeping the rest of that up river. With a sigh Jack leaned back in his seat and allowed himself to relax as much as he could with the terrorist beside him.

It felt like he had just closed his eyes when Silas was shaking him awake. Jack blinked tiredly and was shocked to realize that the submersible was now sitting out in the open smack in the middle of what was called Big Sky country back home.

"How long was I out for?" the youth asked getting stiffly up and looking around in fascination at the scenery, "and how did we get here?"

"We've only been traveling about eight hours," the ex-soldier stated with a scowl. "There's been some sort of reverse current, a string of eddies, following us the entire way. That is not natural," the man growled glaring at the clear shallow water around them. "Even with that it doesn't account for how we got here so fast."

"The dragon swallowed us," Jack murmured as he climbed up the ladder and out in to the steppe air.

Silas glared at him but said nothing. The older man handed him a backpack and a bundle of clothing. Then they jumped to spongy ground. Jack changed while Silas worked the controls of the submersible. The small craft appeared to rise on a cushion of air and float away on the weak current.

"The onboard A.I. will seek out the first hole in the riverbed deep enough to hide it and camouflage itself with river mud," the ex-soldier explained.

Jack nodded and hefted that backpack onto a more comfortable position on his back. The clothing felt weird but Silas assured him that it would help them blend in if they met natives. He wore a coarsely woven white undershirt covered by a thick tan tunic with a hood, brown pants over long white underwear and soft work boots. The older man stepped up beside him with his head cocked to one side and Jack pointed west northwest. Without a word the two stepped out towards the distant mountains.

They fell into a rhythm. One foot in front of the other, stepping along at a steady soldier's pace. The sun scorched down on them and the wind blew in bitterly cold form the mountains. Jack began to shiver. Silas must have noticed that because he stopped them and without preamble took the pack off Jack's back and pulled the tunic off of him. Rather than protest Jack went along with it curiously.

"Do you see a nice cozy den to curl up in around here kid?" the man demanded.

"No sir," Jack muttered, teeth chattering.

"Stop hunching!" the older man ordered. "Spread your arms out and let the wind hit you."

The youth gritted his teeth and obeyed. Icy air from the mountain seemed to cut through his flesh straight into his bones.

"Don't fight it," Silas spoke softly behind him. "Embrace the cold. Let it fill you till your bones are numb, until you don't feel the knives anymore."

At first the orders made no sense, but then understanding dawned. The cold did not grow any less but Jack felt his muscles turn firm under the cold and his skin dry and smooth. He dropped his arms and stared curiously at his hands. His tunic hit him in the head and he pulled it back on and accepted the pack from Silas.

"An old soldier's trick," the terrorist shrugged. "You have to let your body adapt to the climate you are in."

Jack nodded and they set out again. They stopped for a short cold noon meal and snacked as they walked. Jack wanted to keep walking after the sun set but Silas vetoed it.

"No point in going faster if we never get there because you fell in a hole," he commented as he showed Jack how to activate their sleeping bags.

The second day went much as the first, with the terrain growing ever hillier. However Jack woke up the third day to the sound of gunfire. He rolled over and crouched beside a boulder as he got his bearings, not wanting to stand up straight into the line of fire. Silas was standing just to the side of their camp holding his sidearm calmly taking one shot after another. Two bodies dressed in the native attire were sprawled out over his sleeping bag and when Jack stood he could see several more men retreating frantically. Without a flicker in his dark brown eyes the ex-soldier raised his weapon and shot down the retreating figures.

Jack let out a cry and staggered forward. The first three men were dead as were the furthest two but there was a spark of life still glowing in one. The youth darted forward and crouched over the struggling form. He found the wound and pressed his hands over the spurting blood. This one was a man barely older than himself. On his feet were worn athletic shoes.

"Leave them Darby," the terrorist ordered. "We need to get moving."

"He's dying!" Jack protested staring down in horror at the growing pool of blood under his hands and the terror in the man's face below him.

Silas sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly.

"Fine," he stated shortly and came over.

Jack moved slightly to the side to let the older man close and gave the dying youth under his hands a reassuring smile. A sound like a bomb going off exploded by his ear accompanied by a flash of heat. He jerked back as the head in front of him disappeared, splattering his face with bright pink matter. Jack snarled in shock and spun to face Silas who was calmly walking away.

"Why?" he demanded racing up and grabbing the broad shoulder.

"He is no longer dying," the man stated coldly.

"He was just a kid!" Jack shouted.

Silas stared hard at him for a moment as if he was considering his options. Then without even a flicker in his eyes his fist shot out and caught Jack on the jaw. A swift blow to the ribs followed and then he had the raven haired youth in a head lock.

"Mr. Darby," the terrorist started calmly. "We are doing this my way. Out here there are no laws save the laws of nature. We will show no mercy. We will let nothing stop us; especially not respect for the human rights of a few thieves and murderers. If you have a problem with that simply remember that in the law of the wild I am stronger than you."

Leaving it at that terrorist dropped Jack to the ground and strode off. Jack crouched on his knees gathering his breath. When he could stand he moved to arrange the limbs of the dead , arms crossed and legs out. He washed the remains of the youngest thief off of his face in a small spring and started after the Silas. He had allowed himself to forget how hard and dangerous the man could be over the course of their journey together. He could not let that happen again.


	16. Arrival

**Trickster 15**

**Arrival **

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction.**

"Any idea how we get down there?"

Jack surveyed the scene below them. All around the two men the vast panorama of the Tibetan steppe stretched out and down. They had climbed the gentle slopes until they were thousands of miles above sea level, hardly noticing the elevation change it was so gradual. Now rough crags and deep valleys spread out ahead of them. Directly in front of them it appeared as if some great force had carved out a trough in the barren landscape and filled it with life.

Towering trees filled the valley and a river dashed through it singing of the even higher mountains to the north. Jack closed his eyes and ran through the memories the dragon had given him. There was nothing he could overlap exactly with the panorama spread out before him. With a sigh he stood, shifted his pack into a more comfortable position and started walking. Silas fell in behind him without question.

The presence of the violent man at his back made the raven haired youth's neck prickle. He dismissed the uneasiness and tried to clear his mind. Everything instinct in him told Darby to shun the terrorist but he needed him. However Jack also needed a clear and peaceful mind to follow the instructions of the dragon. It became like following an old memory; turn left where the trees felt dense, scramble down the rocks where the air was warmed at noon by the black rocks. Focusing on the danger that Silas presented clouded his mind. Every empty space in his thoughts was filled with the dying face of the bandit, self recrimination, could he have stopped what had happened? But all of that decreased the chances of succeeding in their task, of bringing back the loved ones that were lost, and the strangers Silas had slain as well.

So Jack centered himself on light to drive out the darkness, on the one presence that allowed him to focus, that always calmed him. They were now too far away from Optimus for the human to sense him but there were other ways that the Franklins had taught him. The raven haired youth chose a memory of the Prime and fixed it in his mind. He dwelt on the sensation of being in the ancient being's presence, turn left at the place where the dangerous thing was, of basking in the care and attention that the Prime gave to all those under his care, cross the stream where the air sparkled. The warmth that had filled him when Optimus had finally claimed him as his sparkling, step lightly where the grey rocks were covered in moss.

He was so focused on following the instructions that he didn't realize they were being watched until something tugged on his robe. Jack stumbled as the tan fabric caught and kept him from going forward. The youth glanced down in annoyance that quickly turned to fear when he identified the dark green arrow that had pinned his tunic to the ground. He traced his eyes back over the path it must have taken, aware of the heavy click of Silas's hand gun as he did so.

"Easy," Jack said holding his hand up cautioning to the soldier. "We are going to need the help of the locals if we want to find the artifact, and these were clearly warning shots."

The youth sensed the movement as the terrorist reluctantly holstered his weapon. Out of the dense forest a young man stepped cautiously. He held a bow with a strung arrow angled at the ground. His face was composed into an emotionless mask but there was cold fire in his eyes as they flickered over the two outsiders. Jack raised his hands in a placating manner and dug into his early education.

"Ah, Ni how," the raven haired youth began.

"I speak English," the bowman snapped. "No need for you to embarrass yourself Mr. Darby."

Jack felt Silas stiffen behind him as the piercing eyes turned to the older man.

"You will be the warrior Silas," the even voice continued, "the traitor."

"You seemed very well informed," Silas replied just as evenly and coldly.

"Zhi Tiankong Zhizhu spoke often of you both."

"Airachnid?" the older man demanded, "big gold and black spider?"

A frown flickered across the stoic Asian features and his hands tightened on the bow.

"It would be best to speak of the goddess with some respect Westerner," he stated warningly.

"I rather think I'll speak of her how I choose," Silas growled eyes silently counting the men hidden in the forest.

"We come on a mission from the North Clan."

The strength of the words spoken quietly but with respect drew the attention of the two antagonists back to the smaller of the Westerners. Jack had watched the exchange with a growing sense of trepidation; not afraid that the terrorist would fail. The man's charisma and skill at swaying people to his side was well developed. But now they were embarking into places where the ex-soldier was out of his depth and the raven haired youth had seen what happened when Silas lost control of a situation. They were as yet far from a shooting situation but the image of the dead young man filled Jack's mind and he was determined to not let it go that far again. Once everything went to scrap there was no way he'd be able to overpower the larger man or gain control of the situation. Best to establish his precedence now the youth figured, while things were still relatively calm. He didn't look at Silas to see if the man was going along with it, the stranger with the arrow was paying attention and that was enough for now.

"North Clan sent you?" there was suspicion and a test in the question.

"They aided us," Jack clarified. "We came because the both of us are needed to repair the time stream."

There was silence as the archer in front of them appeared to process what was said. Then he inclined his head deeper into the forest and set off without a word.

"Following him is not a good idea," Silas stated flatly.

"Perhaps," Jack ceded as he moved after their guide, relieved that the terrorist was following anyway. "But from where we are standing all the others are worse."

"And what are the other options?"

"Since I can't locate to artifact like Zech could we would be stuck wandering around this jungle until we stumbled on it by chance, got eaten by something, or the time stream resets and destroys us all."

"So we follow the archer."

The path wound around massive tree boles and over small streams. Jack got the distinct sensation that they were doubling back repeatedly. They weren't blindfolded but there was no doubt in his mind that they were thoroughly lost. There would be no way to retrace the route they were taking. Eventually they approached a village; a few dozen thatched huts with small tendrils of smoke drifting up through the trees. The two men were escorted to the largest hut and sat down on a wooden floor. Soon what Jack assumed were the village elders arrived one at a time or in pairs. A young woman arrived to start a fire in the pit in the center of the room and a slightly younger man than the rest of the elders stood up.

Jack wasn't quite sure what he was expecting but several long minutes of silence wasn't it. The elders stared down at them from their slightly elevated position and finally one of them spoke.

"We cannot allow it."

"What can you not allow?" Jack asked quickly, pushing aside his shock for the moment as a murmur ran around the room; the translation of what he had just said.

He could guess the answer but he wanted to keep the momentum of the conversation under his control and not give Silas a chance to intervene.

"You will try to reunite what was separated."

"With all due respect," the raven haired youth quickly countered bowing his head respectfully, "the danger is greater than you realize."

"She is a fierce demon," one old woman muttered as she leaned forward to prod at the flames. "She revels in pain and destruction. One day she would no longer be content with the blood of criminals."

"I don't understand," Jack stated bowing humbly to the elder. "Please explain it to me. Won't your village be harmed much more than what she could inflict when the time line resets?"

The muttering translation went on longer this time and when it finished the woman snorted while the man replied.

"Our village is at the center. The storm will swirl around us but we shall remain safe. The demon poses a great threat to us."

Jack paused to consider this. He sensed Silas shifting impatiently and sent the terrorist a sharp look. The older man acquiesced but did not relax and the raven haired youth understood that he would have to work quickly to prevent the violent ex-soldier from handling it his way. Jack didn't know exactly what that would entail but some of the torture scenes from the more violent war movies he had seen ran through his mind and he forced his thought back to the task at hand before the images could derail him. Deciding to cut to the chase he stood and bowed to the assembled humans.

"I understand that the one you call Zhi Tiankong Zhizhu is dangerous. She has threatened both myself and my mother in the past. She almost killed us in fact, but I have fought her on several different occasions. She's not a god only a demon and a weak on at that." He paused and looked searchingly around the faces staring impassively at him. What would convince them? "In the original time line she was captured and imprisoned by those stronger than her. She is no longer a threat to you then but in this reality she is. She came from the stars," Jack paused again trying to explain the global disaster. "When the time line rights itself naturally it will snap her back here and while the village may not suffer at first, the damage that is done will block out the sun."

There was quiet in the room broken only by the slight shuffling as the elders muttered among themselves. Quickly they seemed to decide something and the young archer appeared and beckoned the two Westerners to follow him out of the hut. Jack got up and followed, very aware that the larger man behind him was not pleased with the outcome. Once out of the hut however they did not go far. The archer stopped them under a tree.

"The elders will come to a decision quickly," he stated evenly.

"Thank you," Jack replied sincerely.

"Don't be grateful too quickly," the younger man warned.

"You don't think they will help us?"

"I think they might."

With that cryptic warning the archer turned back towards the hut and was silent. Within moments the girl who tended the fire walked out carrying a small bird on her hand. She released it and it flew east swiftly disappearing into the forest. Several long minutes dragged on while Jack tried to figure out where the bird had been hidden in the barren room. Suddenly a jet black raven swept into the clearing and the girl ran after it into the hut. A moment later she stuck her head out and nodded curtly to the archer and he turned without comment and began striding northward up the valley.

"Where are you going?" Jack asked.

"To the caves where you will find your answers," the other youth replied.

The two Westerners began jogging after him after exchanging surprised looks.

"Just like that?" Jack asked, feeling that that had been a bit too easy after the resistance he had sensed in the elders.

"The North Clan has verified that they are assisting you," their guide explained. "They wish for you to succeed and our village owes them a great debt. To satisfy honor we must give you every assistance within our power no matter the danger to us."

Soon they came to the entrance to the cave. It was an ordinary enough looking crack in between two granite boulders. Silas moved as if to examine it but the Asian youth held out the bow in front of him and shook his head.

"Only one may enter the cave at a time," he nodded to Jack. "He has the skills to reverse this, not you."

The terrorist shrugged and handed over the glue and tape then sat down on a rock to wait. Just as Jack was about to enter the archer grabbed his arm and glared intensely at him. There was anger and blame in his dark eyes. The first real emotion the raven haired youth had seen in him and Jack stepped back in shock.

"She called me Youyue," he spoke low voice full of fury. "It means better than, superior. The reason she chose me, this village was because she was jealous of the one called Arcee; of her and the fact that she had you."

"I'm sorry," Jack murmured knowing as he said it how little the archer thought of the apology.

The Asian pulled an arrow out of his quiver and the raven haired youth narrowed his eyes. Even without shifting his awareness he could sense the densely concentrated energy in the head. Youyue stuck the arrow into the ground just inside the mouth of the cave.

"That is an arrow capable of felling the demon," he stated. "I have only the one. There the changes will not affect it. If it is gone when you return from your task you will know that she returned and attacked the village. If it remains you will know she did not."

Jack nodded in acceptance and stepped into the darkness.


	17. Repair

**Trickster 16**

**Repair**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

The cave was a disappointment. Jack wasn't certain what he had been expecting; perhaps an Aladdin style enclosure filled with temptations and traps or vast and cavernous spaces that echoed with mystery and arcane secrets. Instead what he found was merely a vertical rift in the granite covered with moss and lichens. He slipped in easily enough. There on the rock were scratches where the green moss had been disturbed. Airachnid must have found the entrance a tight fit he mused as he ran his chapped fingers over the marks.

He turned his attention to searching the small space. The crack let in some light but the damp space was too dim to properly search. The human shifted his awareness and immediately regretted it. The cavern was a tangled mass of energy. The natural life force of the ecosystem had been cracked and fractured. Jack staggered as he leaned against the wall trying to regain his composure. He could only describe the light he saw a broken. There was something festering and rotten here and it was not all recent. Something had started dying long ago and had been decaying ever since but had a long time to before it was out of its misery. Quickly the youth closed off his senses retreating to the five basic ones. They would have to do.

The flash light he carried worked well enough and soon revealed scattered pieces of a broken clay on the mossy floor. From what little he could read of the signs it looked like the spider-con had dropped the tablet after breaking it neatly in two. Jack fingered the tube of super glue in his pocket with a bit of resigned trepidation. The task before him was far from impossible but it would take precious time. With a sigh he fixed the flashlight in a crack in the wall and knelt down to work. The first steps went easily. The two main pieces had broken cleanly and the glue took readily to the porous material. The smaller pieces were more difficult requiring close attention to find the appropriate position.

He was frowning down at one particularly vexing space and reached for another fragment without looking. His finger caught on the sharp edge of the clay and Jack was vaguely aware of a small pain. He fixed the fragment in place and moved onto the next unaware of the red iron rich stain that the clay was hungrily absorbing. The last few pieces were the trickiest and his fingers were coated with glue. He risked shifting his awareness one last time to search for any remaining scraps that were too small for his eye to see but found nothing. He stared in confusion at the tablet waiting for something to happen. When nothing did he pulled out the duct tape to finish the task. That was when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you sure you want to do that young man?"

Jackson Darby stiffened at the touch. The voice was mellow and calming. The hand was gentle. When he turned the figure standing over him appeared to be a slightly bent old man in a tweed sweater and brown pants; a kindly old figure that seemed to radiate peace and comfort. The human darted his eyes at the entrance. His own footprints were clear and undisturbed. There were no other tracks.

"Where did you come from?" Jack asked evenly.

"Through the door," the creature replied evenly nodding towards the tablet. "You have my thanks for restoring it."

Whatever this was it was not human but Jack could sense no malice coming from it. Not that that was very telling. Zech had warned him of many beings that were far more dangerous than even Sal but would not trigger any fear response in humans. Simple curiosity became dangerous in creatures so powerful when not tempered by compassion or logic.

"A door? I thought this was a device to alter time?" Jack frowned.

The old face crinkled in a smile.

"There is much that this world knows that is false. That is a door to my dwelling place."

"Well you should go back," Jack offered standing with a grunt of discomfort as his knees straightened. "I will be sealing the door and you don't want to be caught on this side."

The figure nodded sagely seeming pleased with his answer.

"You sought to erase the last boon I granted," he murmured. "You have succeeded. The time line resets itself as we speak."

Jack glanced curiously down at the cracked and mended tablet in his hands.

"You cannot sense it so long as you remain in this cavern," it answered his unasked question. "It is protected from the changes."

"Then I should finish."

"Are you certain that you want to do that?" the soft voice quested again.

"What are you talking about?"

"You now have the right to request a boon."

"Wouldn't that just mess up the time line again?"

"The female," the old one stated slowly. "I offered her a boon and she made a very unwise choice. Her choice was made based on vanity, jealousy, and spite. She wanted to destroy something. Is it any wonder that so many bad things came from such a selfish decision?"

The faux old man circled the human thoughtfully.

"But you," it said contemplatively. "You are not like her. I can tell from the way your energy flows. You have been chosen for great things."

Jack hesitated as the image of Optimus handing the key to him filled his mind.

"And greater things are yet to come for you. I have some small ability to see into what lies ahead. Yes, you are far from the creature that crawled to me and asked that I erase your connection with her rival."

"You did that?" Jack demanded. "Why? How?"

"I must serve the will of the one who opens my door," the creature stated regretfully, "no matter the consequences. She demanded I sever the bond. I placed a shadow of danger in her rival's path; some vague feeling that she must not stop where she had intended to. So she turned from you and the place of safety where you labored and took another path. Surely such a wise one as you would understand the consequences of those actions."

The raven haired youth nodded at the question but hesitated. Something in the statement rang false but it answered the questions he had had from the start of all of this.

"What will your boon be?"

Jack blinked up at him.

"All you need to do is break the fragile thing in your hands and anything you want; past, present, and future is within my power to grant you."

"It is dangerous," the human protested.

"For the foolish and ignorant perhaps," the being pressed. "Is there no good deed you want to do? No pain you wish to alleviate?"

An image flashed clearly in Jack's mind; Arcee's optics. Not the broken blue and grey that had greeted him in the gutted base but the hard glittering orbs that had first rose above him in the dry Nevada culvert; full of suffering from mourning Cliffjumper. Could he bring back her fallen partner? Erase that pain that seared clear through to her spark?

"Surely a wise and noble man such as yourself could not hesitate to perform such a great deed of kindness, of selflessness, not and be true to what you are."

Suddenly Jack was no longer in the crowded cave. He was back on the river facing the golden eyes of the dragon.

"…_you will face many dangers but the greatest will be the ones you carry within you. Your greatest protection will lie in remembering what you are."_

"Human," Jack whispered shutting his eyes and clenching the tablet to his chest. "I am only human."

Mentally he held himself up to the leader of the Autobots as he had done so many times in the past. Optimus was not perfect. The Prime had spoken of his failures many times and compared to him Jack felt as nothing. A mote of organic matter holding only a few moments of time compared to the Cybertronian, full of human greed, selfishness, and limited to a pitifully small understanding; _the dangers within._

Turning his back on the creature offering the temptation Jack pulled out the duct tape with shaking hands. The first few wraps were difficult but soon he was frantically winding the clay in the silver strips. Finally with the sound of tearing cardboard the tape ended. Jack dared a glance over his shoulder but the strange man shaped creature was gone. With a shuddering breath he pulled up a section of the thick moss and slipped the silver package under it. The bryophyte would grow into the tape and help hide it from future interest. It was the best he could do with what he had. The task finished he stepped out of the cave.

The moss had claimed the arrow, ripping wetly when Jack tugged the shaft from the ground. In the mud outside of the cave one set of fairly small footprints led to the cave. No others. Jack felt a surge of relief at this; the first and only sign that his task had succeeded. The dense forest around him gave no indication that it knew or care of either the changes that has spawned in its depths or the violent resolution. Now all he needed to do was get home and contact the base. The human suddenly groaned and slumped against a tree as it hit him that if Silas was no longer here then neither was his submersible. He was thousands of miles from home, across the planet's largest ocean, and without any means of crossing that distance except his own two legs.


	18. Righting

**Trickster 17**

**Righting**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

"This belongs to you."

Jack held out the arrow to the sharp eyed youth before him. It had been a relief to find it unscathed at the entrance of the cave; however when he had arrived back at the village there were signs of the catastrophe everywhere. Several of the low thatched huts had burned down and many of the inhabitants sported fresh injuries. They glanced curiously at the raven haired youth who staggered out of the forest but quickly returned to the more pressing matters of repairing their village before the winter claimed it. The one exception was the young warrior Airachnid had called Youyue. He strode forward starting at Jack intently but curiously. He demanded something in a language the American didn't recognize then switched to English.

"Why have you come to our village Darby? The Sky Spider will not be pleased."

Jack blinked at the Asian youth in confusion as his tired brain attempted to form a response that wouldn't get him killed while simultaneously trying to understand the situation.

"Airachnid is imprisoned by those stronger than she," the raven haired youth finally settled on.

"And when she escapes?"

Jack frowned at the quiet certainty in the other's voice in the inevitability of that outcome.

"If that happens she is weak and damaged. She has betrayed her master, is hunted by both the laws of humanity and our outlaws, and is despised by our allies. She would not be able to make it to the village."

The young guardian of the village nodded and seemed to accept his explanation with reservations changing the topic as if it was no matter.

"You will rest the night in our village," the Asian stated curtly. "At first light you will take a horse and leave. The horse will know the path to the last house of rest we maintain. Then you will be on your own."

"Is there a phone there?" Jack asked. "At the house of rest?"

His guide gave a curt nod and set off towards a relatively undamaged hut. As much as the prospect of so little sleep and a horse ride made his exhausted body protest it made sense that the village would want him gone. Clearly they had been less protected from the effects of the timestorm than they had expected; memories as well as houses had been damaged and erased. There in the grave yard were three new mounds; one painfully small. The raven haired youth felt his gut clench painfully but forced himself to focus on what lay ahead. The consequences were going to only get worse as he traveled further from the epicenter as much as he prayed that Autobot Base Omega had been restored the youth feared what he would find at the end of his strange journey.

It was in the wee hours of the next morning after only a few hours of fitful sleep that Jack remembered Zech's final instructions about the tablet. With a groan he forced himself out of the warmth of the bed and out into the cold forest. By the time he had found the tablet under the moss the sky was beginning to lighten in the east and he half ran back to the village with the tablet weighing heavily in his back pack. A wiry old horse, the kind the old timers in Jasper called a there and back again ride, was handed over to him without question.

Riding was new to him and uncomfortable. He was aching with the unfamiliar movements well before he arrived at the sturdy hut. There he surrendered the animal willingly enough to an old man who pointed him in the direction of the river. Noon was approaching by the time he made the headwaters. With a sigh of resignation he stepped out along the bank of the stream.

O

O

Hot equatorial sun beat down on a small beach and a strange charge filled the salty air. At high tide it was a narrow crescent of soft coral sand embraced by a sweep of dark granite. Narrow and dangerous steps were carved into the stone leading to what might have been a large and rambling old adobe house hidden in the deep brush. The sand belonged to the house and its inhabitants all the way down to the low tide line; a grant grandfathered in centuries ago by an ambitious king, when swarthy skinned princes had still offered their blood to gods of stone and war in the depth of the jungle. Over the intervening time the secluded place had seen many humans land on the pale sand, had seen war and death as it was thronged by warriors, had seen love and new life as white veiled maidens had smiled shyly or coyly up at men while black robed priests had voiced ancient rites.

Today only three souls shared the beauty and all were oblivious to odd power that tainted the scene; one because the blood of her father granted her the right, one because she granted him the privilege, the third because her hoary old head fully intended to see the beach of use to a virgin bride once again and men were what men were. The old woman sat quietly weaving a basket out of the reeds she had collected from further up the shore. The two youngsters sprawled out beside each other on a cloth that had once been a vibrant red and a gift from a queen, but now was faded beyond recognition and regulated to protecting skin from sand.

The man who appeared young was leaning forward, resting on his side and one elbow as he murmured to her; soft words the like of which had fallen on the sand too many times to be counted. Dark hair was tied back with a leather band at the nape of his neck wrangling his jet black mane into a manageable pony-tail and dark blue eyes flashed over high cheekbones as he spilled his heart into the small hands of his companion. Lack of originality did not seem to rob his words of their power for she who might have been girl or woman depending on her mood rested her chin on her hands and directed her gaze up at the house. The dark eyes flashed at each whispered thought and a sincere if mischievous smile pulled at her lips.

The man's voice grew more intent and she responded; turning a smooth face to his and leaning forward. Granting permission for a request not voiced. Large work worn hands reached out to gently hold her face and he leaned closer heart pounding. Just before his lips touched hers the peace of the beach was shattered with the blaring of powerful air horns. Zechariah Franklin flinched but attempted to finish the hard won act but his companion was already pulling back looking up curiously at the edge of the cliff where flashing lights identified the exact location of the sound.

"Lola," the young man pleaded softly.

"You brother wants you I think," she murmured rising to her knees and brushing the sand off her red sundress.

"He always wants attention," Zech muttered resting one of his hands on hers, trying to recapture the moment.

The smooth face changed from woman to girl and Lola Xochitl Guerrero laughed and leapt to her feet darting for the stone steps. The man gave a resigned sigh and rolled to his feet to follow her. Over any great distance his longer legs would have easily over taken her stride but short sprints, narrow stairs, and twisting paths through the brush all favored her delicate form and dainty feet. By the time he caught up she was sitting perched on the running board of a gunmetal grey semi speaking intently to Salcha in her father's tongue as she stroked his carbon-titanium side soothingly.

Zech was feeling less than charitable as he stalked scowling up to the agitated big-rig. However the genuine distress he saw reflected in the thousand tiny movements tempered his response. He was about to demand what was going on when something occurred to him.

"Wait, since when do you speak Nahuatl?" he asked in confusion.

"Not important!" Sal rumbled snapping a door open. "Get in!"

The older brother took a step back and shook his head firmly.

"Hey, I have a week scheduled here with Lola! You are going to have to give me a Denali sized reason if you want me to just follow you."

The semi let out a strangled sound of frustration and rocked back and forth on his wheels while the dark haired girl looked on sympathetically.

"You really can't remember anything?"

"About what?"

"The timestream just reset! All my electronics are out. Cell phones and satellites are both out of order! Thunder over Denali! I was just battling a voi-I mean an enemy hundreds of miles from here!"

"Okay," Zech stated slowly for the first time noting the heavy charge in the atmosphere, "but what do we need to do now?"

"Zech!" Sal cried in exasperation. "Jack is the center!"

"Lola, we have to go."

The girl shifted to woman as she watched the changed in her beloved. His shoulders squared, blue eyes narrowed in focus, and the scent of fight wafted off of him. A slow smile spread across her face revealing sharply pointed canines and she surrendered her place on the semi to his brother.

"You will tell me what comes of this later?" she requested softly.

"Nope, never," Salcha stated bluntly.

"It is not our secret to tell," Zech explained soothingly.

"My man of mystery," she mused thoughtfully and appeared to come to the conclusion that that was a good thing.

"He wants a kiss," the big-rig suggested helpfully.

Lola laughed in delight and spun and ran towards the house.

"Sal!" Zech called out in agony.

"What?" The big rig demanded as his engine revved and he backed up the gravel road.

"Nothing," the man muttered slumping against the wheel. "What kind of trouble is Jack in?"

Sal gave a quick and reasonably coherent synopsis of discovering the time shift, meeting up with Optimus, and sending Jack off. His brother listened intently.

"So best case scenario Jack is stranded in China, possibly with a known terrorist and traitor, and the backlash from the time warp has been limited to minor carnage," he finally summarized.

"Yeah, I tried to get on the sat-phone with the Clan and our shipping contacts in Asia but all communications are down. Even the short wave bands are weak but from what I can hear it's the same all over."

"There are other options," Zech mused starting west across the ocean.

"Yeah, for you," Sal snapped annoyed. "You know I don't have your sensitivity."

His brother nodded and let his other senses reach out. To his surprise there was a near instantaneous answer from the deep rolling Pacific. He spent some time mulling over the information provided. The great creatures of the blue depth all knew what the others were doing and if one could understand them and knew where to look there were few secrets they would keep.

"The dragon of the Yellow River is aiding Jack, sending him down to the sea. It looks like our best bet will be to pick him up at the mouth," the tall man stated finally. "I think we can assume that the main airlines will be in chaos. We'll send word via the CB for Babe to get a Navaho Chieftain in the air. They won't be as badly affected by the energy discharges as the more complex planes and we can meet them in Seatown."

"What about Optimus," Sal pressed concerned. "What if the time stream doesn't heal him? Who knows how a voidwalker would be affected? He was barely holding his own against a swarm of those pointy purple flying things when I was pulled away from him. And Arcee, and the ones who-"

"Fog line!" Zech shouted frantically as the semi rolled towards the side of the road.

With an angry growl Sal corrected his course and his brother breathed a sigh of relief and patted the seat.

"Look Sal. Think about it this way. I don't know too much about this time alteration stuff despite apparently having a crash course in the other stream. But I do know a little bit about Optimus Prime. From what you've told me Jack will have been gone for nearly a week now and they have no idea why. What do you think is going to make Optimus happier: us showing up all worried for him or us doing our best to get Jack back?"

The semi growled in frustration at his conflicting urged but continued north.

"Now if Jack just made the headwaters of the Yellow River he should be getting to the mouth right about when we pull into Seattle. Babe will probably have him there in less than a day then another day back to Jasper."

"Two weeks," the semi mused thoughtfully.


	19. Return to Sender

**Trickster 18**

**Return to Sender**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

Two weeks. Fourteen days. Three-hundred thirty-six hours. Twenty-thousand one hundred sixty minutes. The dark haired nurse's mental calculator broke down at that point and she staggered, falling against the pale hospital wall beside her. Blue eyes closed tightly and ragged breaths shook her body but no tears slipped down her face and within moments she was walking down the bright corridor; face set, mind fiercely locked on the charts she was holding. She passed through the double doors leading out into the main lobby and the danger zone.

The red haired ward nurse at the front counter shot her a look that was equal parts appraising and concerned. Soon her supervisor and long time friend would press the point and June Darby was dreading the confrontation. Officially Jack was at a training camp for West Point applicants; sort of a pre boot-camp to prepare youths for military life. The ease with which the lies spilled out of her almost frightened the nurse. Deception, camouflage had so quickly become such an intrinsic part of her life. She banished the thought and focused on getting through the last hour of her shift when the clock on the wall seemed determined to break the laws of physics and trap her there endlessly, but finally her shift ended and the nurse slipped out before any of her colleagues could approach her.

June's heart fell a little when she saw the blue motorcycle in her parking spot. If there had been the slightest hint of news Arcee would have been out hunting for Jack instead of waiting to pick up the nurse. The Autobot said nothing as the human fixed the helmet over her head and straddled the seat. Before they moved June took the time to gently stroke one hand along the warm blue mesh. The usual words for such a situation had quickly dried up between the two females, feeling meaningless in the face of their helplessness. Now they simply offered each other what silent support they could.

The ride back to base was therefore quiet; just the hum of tires on asphalt and the low purr of the Cybertronian engine. Neither noted the sharp eyes that watched them from the crossroads thery were so wrapped up in the moment. It was soothing for both of them to just get away even for a short time; away from teammates and friends who needed or would offer support. It almost made the human grateful that the groundbridge had refused to work for the entirety of the time her son was missing.

It was that very machine that was the target of Ratchet's ire when they arrived back. Fresh scorch marks on the rock wall surrounding the bridge indicated the source of his complaint. Arcee groaned so softly only June was aware of it and went to report to Optimus. It frustrated Ratchet to no end that even within the shielding of Autobot Base Omega One their internal comms failed. The Prime was currently on his back reaching up into the internals of the main computer system, patiently fixing each new failure as it appeared. At least now the monitors were on and displaying error messages June mused; a distinct improvement over the last several times she had arrived.

Between the two mechs they made enough noise to fill the base. Bumblebee and Bulkhead were out patrolling the surrounding area. A quick glance at the living area confirmed that Miko and Rafael were quietly working on homework. June felt another pang as she watched the children. They had been unusually, in Miko's case bizarrely; quiet ever since Jack had disappeared. There was a subdued and haunted look to the girl that the nurse had never seen before and she couldn't shake the feeling that it was something deeper than simply missing her friend.

"Nurse Darby," Ratchet's voice interrupted her musings, "how were conditions at your workplace?"

"Improving," the woman informed him. "We are back on the electric grid so the generators are finally getting a rest; which is a good thing because we burned out three of them. Our internal phone lines are back up and we have limited connectivity with anywhere that has land lines, but that comes and goes as their computers go out. Ours are up about three quarters of the time now. But anything wireless is still useless."

Ratchet gave a tired exvent and rubbed his optics as Optimus rolled gracefully to his peds and came up behind the medic.

"Then it as we expected old friend," the Prime stated gently laying a hand on the red and white shoulder.

"Preposterous," the smaller Autobot muttered, but it came out over slumped shoulder guards and so quietly June barely heard it.

"It is the only conclusion that the evidence will allow," Optimus continued.

"What is?" June asked curiously.

"We have come to the conclusion that these disturbances have been the result of some natural phenomenon native to Earth rather than an attack from the Decepticons as we feared. The discharges are far more disruptive to Cybertronian technology than human."

"Optimus is correct," the medic groaned as if the words were being pulled out of him by Megatron's favorite interrogator. "I have studied the way both technologies react to the disturbances and your machines though primitive have an amazing ability to absorb the damage they cause. Most likely anything not built so would simply never have worked. If we are to assume this is a common phenomenon then we could presume that it forced the direction of your mechanical advancement to the place where it is today."

"In short it is our own technology that continues to fail us," Optimus explained.

"That would explain why the Con's haven't been up to anything," Arcee offered. "Fowler reported to us that while the satellites in Earth orbit have ceased to function the deep system probes are still transmitting perfectly. Megatron probably has the Nemesis backed way off until this passes."

"Indeed if this were a Decepticon plot they would have made their move already," the Prime confirmed.

"A friend from the Hawaii Observatory passed through the school," Raf interjected. "He said that they were recording unheard of levels of solar flare activity. Could that be the cause?"

"That is a very slim possibility Rafael," Ratchet replied, "more than likely it to was a symptom of whatever is causing this."

"Stop it!" June suddenly shouted, clenching her hands over her ears as water began to drip from her eyes. "Just stop it! This isn't some scientific conundrum! Jack is missing! Whether or not the Decepticons or M.E.C.H. took him he hasn't contacted me in two weeks," she glared up at a stunned Ratchet through her tears. All the pain and stress that she had been holding in for days seemed to burst out in a bitter torrent. "I think there are more important questions to be asking. Why didn't any of you began looking for him for over a week? Why did no one here notice he was gone?"

"Ah-ah-ah, that is hardly fair Nurse Darby," Ratchet interjected fiercely, "considering that you yourself failed to react-"

"Ratchet," the primes calm voice ended the shouting match as he laid a hand on his physician's shoulder. "That will do." He knelt down and held his cupped hand out to the crying woman. "June," he began softly. "There is a great amount that we do not know about this situation and I can only ask your forgiveness for my lack of action. Jackson is important to all of us and I assure you that I will not stop searching for him."

"I know,"the mother hissed through gritted teeth, "and I am sorry Ratchet. I just-"

The Last of the Primes gently reached out and wrapped one massive hand around the sobbing woman; not picking her up but simply offering her support. Miko and Raf had retreated back to the emotional safety of the couch and were huddling together while Ratchet had beat a quick retreat. Finally June pulled away and smiled up weakly at Optimus before turning and following Ratchet into the medical bay.

Arcee watched them leave alertly. Once the human was out of sight however the femme seemed to collapse in on herself. Optimus had watched his second with a growing sense of despair over the days Jack had been missing. As the likelihood that they would find him alive decreased so her the warrior's vibrancy and energy. In front of Mrs. Darby she managed to maintain a façade of strength and patience but losing a third partner had clearly dealt a blow to her psyche that would not heal easily. There was emptiness and defeat in her optics that was only tempered by her determination to protect June; her last link to Jack. She gave the Prime a brief nod and transformed to begin the extended local patrols they were limited to without the groundbridge.

Optimus turned back to the computer system and began his careful string of repairs. The Cybertronian components that had been integrated with the human elements were actually faring better than the stand alone devices. It was as if the failsafes built into the less advanced tech were protecting the alien components. Still, every time he attempted to restart the system a cascade of errors would crash the computer. He finished with every repair he could find and was about to perform a complete restart when he paused. Instead the Prime decided to only boot up the human components. As he half expected the computer hummed to life without error. The processor speed and range of applications were a mere fraction of what they would be otherwise but at least their communications with the human governments was reestablished. Optimus sent a brief message to Agent Fowler and stepped back.

"Ratchet," he called out to the medic who was exiting the lab with an arm full of devices. "It would appear that out best option would be to affect what repairs we can at this point and leave our equipment in the powered down state until this phenomenon has passed."

"And what of the Decepticons?" the medic asked tiredly.

"The evidence points to this being of natural causes. As we have had no reports of Decepticon activity we can only assume that they were as adversely affected as we. Only more so, and that the Nemesis is currently far enough from Earth that it is undetectable to human equipment."

"As you say Optimus," the red and white Autobot conceded. "I never thought these words would cross my vocalize but thank Primus that we have access to this primitive technology."

The medic paused as if he wished to continue but hesitated to bring up the subject. Optimus gave the smaller Cybertronian his undivided attention but remained silent waiting for his friend to speak.

"Optimus," Ratchet began, "what are the chances that Jackson is still alive?"

The Prime felt a deep pang at the blunt question and unconsciously raised a servo to touch over his spark. The gesture and the fleeting look of pain that passed over the stoic faceplates did not go unnoticed by the healer and he immediately regretted his query, but there was no hesitation in Optimus's voice when he answered.

"Wherever Jack has been these past two weeks, why we waited so long to begin the search for him I cannot say. My memories are clouded and strange as are yours. But know this," he reached out and grasped Ratchet's arm firmly. "I do not accept that he is anything but alive. We will find him."

Ratchet nodded a bit surprised by the swelling of hope in his spark. It was illogical, but comforting. The moment was ruined however and the old medic snarled as the proximity alarms began to blare.

"It would be those systems that were restored first," the medic muttered.

Optimus moved to the controls and tilted his helm to get a close look at the minuscule human computer screen.

"It appears to be a delivery," the Prime stated. "There is also a note from Fowler regarding it. It is authorized but the contents are not listed."

"Well, tell them to come in," Ratchet groused.

"The truck is civilian," Optimus stated.

Ratchet groaned and sent a message to the inhabitants of the base to stay hidden. Optimus herded Miko and Raf back into the medical bay to wait under the Nurse's watchful care; an easy task when there was work to avoid. Usually Fowler would be present to accept the deliveries but there were protocols in place for the times he was unavailable. Both Cybertronians transformed and parked where they would block the views of obviously alien tech. The silo doors rolled open and the sound of a big rig filled the stone space. At the sound Ratchet noted with mild concern that Optimus tensed. A gunmetal grey form rolled around the corner and pulled to a graceful stop directly over the Autobot symbol.


	20. Finding Comfort

**Trickster 19**

**Comfort**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

"Delivery for Mrs. June Darby."

Ratchet stared in surprise at the tall human that stepped out of the cab. It was unusual for deliveries to come straight to the base, especially ones for the humans. Usually Optimus would bring what they needed and if he was busy the military would send one of their rigs. This civilian truck seemed in ill repair too; odd noises emanating from the engine. The young man stepped down from the idling truck and glanced around. He seemed completely unsurprised at the apparently empty base and simply waited for the woman to approach from the medical bay.

"Zech!" June called out happily when she spotted the trucker.

A strange undefined hope swelled up inside of her. Good things happened when the Franklins were around.

"Mrs. Darby," the man replied with a grin pulling the smaller woman into a warm hug.

"Hey, who's that?" a young voice demanded.

"Miko!"

The trucker released June and smiled over at the two head s poking around the corner.

"And you must be Miss Nakadai and Mr. Esquivel."

"I'm Miko, he's Raf," the girl explained bouncing forward on the balls of her feet to circle the newcomer. "How do you know about us?"

"I'm a friend of Jack's. The name's Zechariah Franklin."

"Yeah I've seen your letters to him. Like so last century."

"What can I say? I'm a traditional kind of guy."

Optimus listened to their banter curiously. It was unlikely that the Franklins would reveal themselves fully to the rest of the Autobots and while Fowler might have requested the truckers that were already in the know to deliver supplies something else was going on. The Prime found his attention drawn back to the cab of the big rig.

"So what'd you bring?" Miko asked curiously peering into the dark semi.

The trucker leapt back into the cab and reached into the back throwing a blanket wrapped form over his shoulder.

"One living breathing Jack Darby! Got a bed in this joint?"

June let out an inarticulate cry of joy that was immediately overwhelmed by Raf's shouts and Miko's squeals, and rushed forward to touch the pale face that poked out of the wrappings. Optimus could barely contain his reaction to a surge of joy and relief as the mother guided Zech to the hospital bed.

"What's wrong with him?" Raf asked as he and Miko scuttled around fetching IV drips and clean cloths.

"Not sure. He was like this when I found him," the trucker admitted. "Feverish, dehydrated, and running at both ends."

"Ew!" Miko made a face.

"Where did you find him?" June asked.

"Pilot friend of mine picked him up at the mouth of the Yellow River."

"Indiana?"

"Nope, China."

"What the scrap was Jack doing in China?" Miko interjected.

"You'd better ask him that when he's awake," the Franklin replied with a shrug. "I got a few details out of him before he started raving but they didn't make much sense."

"Raving?" Mrs. Darby asked sharply.

"Yup, mostly about pink kittens and tap shoes. It comes and goes in spells."

Miko gave a squeal and darted into the depths of the base.

"Camera," Raf explained ruefully at Zech's curious look.

"Well, I need to get going," the trucker stated with a grin. "With the planes down the trucks are running over time to keep the economy flowing."

He jogged across the silo and leapt easily into the cab of the gunmetal grey semi. There was a long pause as the young man appeared to smack the consol around but finally the rig started with a resentful coughing noise and rolled out of the base. The moment he was gone the sound of transformation filled the silo. Ratchet has been silently seething until the trucker had left, desperate to run scans on the obviously feverish youth. The medic moved with all the speed he could muster to the bedside but was shocked to find the Prime there first. One massive finger reached out to tenderly touch the sweat soaked hair. Cerulean optics stared down at the tense form with a strange mixture of compassion, joy, and curiosity.

"Ah ha, Optimus," Ratchet said quietly, lightly brushing his shoulder guard against the red one and sending a glyph for impatience.

The Prime ceded the spot next to the medical bed and the healer began to systematically run his scanning lights over the youth. The Autobot sent out a quick burst transmission to the others to call them into the silo.

"Nurse Darby?" he demanded harshly as the colorful beams flickered frustratingly.

"Fever of one hundred degrees centigrade, swelling in the lymph glands, heart rate at eighty nine beats per minute, odd rashes over the majority of his body surface," she listed off the symptoms she could observe with a frown. "I'd say he was fighting off several infections at once; viral, bacterial, and suffering from dehydration and malnutrition."

"That is consistent with what little my scans show me," the medic confirmed curtly. "I suggest a treatment of intravenous saline solution with concentrated nutrients and a broad range antibiotic."

"Yes Doctor," the nurse replied automatically as her fingers flew over the tasks she had already begun. "Miko move," she barked at the girl. "We don't know if this is contagious or not yet."

The slim Asian was clinging to one of Jacks hands and staring intently into his face with a growing frown. She staggered back tripping over the IV pole, earning an exasperated growl from Ratchet.

"He's going to be all right isn't he?" Raf asked worriedly.

"Not if you keep interrupting our treatment," the medic snapped.

Raf winced and Miko spun on the Autobot with a snarl prepared to jump to the smaller boy's defense.

"Miko, Rafael," Optimus interjected. "Would you please come help me prepare Jack's room for him? He will need a more private place to stay once he regains awareness."

The two children reluctantly nodded and clambered into the Prime's outstretched hands.

"He looks really bad. Is he going to be okay? How long until he wakes up? What was he doing in China?" Miko began to let out a steady stream of agitated questions.

Optimus answered her as best he could, resolutely forcing his own fears to the back of his processor. The Prime wondered at that. He had seen many mechs, many close friends fall ill. So very many of them had been young. Some even younger than Jack, and yet never had he felt such great disquiet in his spark over the fact. A younger Prime would have no doubt hovered around the medic demanding to be informed of the youth's condition. Time and experience had taught him the futility, the harm, of such actions, but still his very being ached to remain beside the human.

It was with a slight tremor to his servos that he set the children to the task of preparing Jack's quarters then walked out to the main silo. There was something that needed tending to and he had already put it off too long. Since the Franklins were involved it was possible, though not necessary, that the shadowy Others were involved in the youth's condition. Zechariah might have simply found the human and returned him out of friendship but darker possibilities had to be considered. The other side of that coin was that if Jack's illness had any taint of the darker powers of the planet then the elder Franklin's ample healing ability would have certainly addressed that by now. Nevertheless he felt compelled to be certain. The Autobot transformed and rolled out of the base.

He found what he was looking for a few hundred yards from the base. The gunmetal grey big rig was pulled over onto a gravel road and apparently having a loud argument with itself. Optimus approached cautiously. He had seen the furious temperament of the creature and surmised he would have to tread carefully.

"Salcha Franklin?" he asked stopping several yards back.

The reaction was instantaneous. The big rig gave a harsh cry and spun around rolling to an abrupt stop with his bumper inches from the Primes. Optimus did not back off, waiting patiently for the other to speak. Zech leaned out the window with a flushed face and exasperated look.

"Optimus Prime," he started respectfully.

"Greetings," the Autobot responded. "I wished to thank you both personally for retrieving-"

"Are you okay?" the sudden interruption caught the Cybertronian off guard as the gunmetal grey rig surged forward until their bumpers touched. "Oh Denali, I was so worried about you."

As he was talking the semi began to press and rub against Optimus's mesh. The Cybertronian couldn't help flinching back in surprise at the sudden contact and Zech called out to his brother curtly.

"Oh scrap I am sorry!" Sal rolled back a few inches; embarrassment tainting his deep voice. "I should have asked first before cuddling like that but I am so glad to see you alive and well."

"I too am gratified to see you," the Prime answered sincerely if curiously. "However I was under the impression the last time we met that you were not particularly fond of me personally."

"What?" Salch demanded incredulously. "How could you say that? We were just-Ow! No hitting Zech!"

"Time stream!" the human snapped.

"Oh right he doesn't rem-ouch! Okay, okay I'll stop talking about it! Anyway I got over that and I like you now but someone won't let me explain."

Deciding to simply accept the change in the honest creature for what it appeared to be the Prime pushed aside his questions for the moment and rolled forward allowing their bumpers to touch again. The human inside seemed to hesitate, mulling something over and then coming to a decision. Zech jumped out of the cab and waved to the two semis.

"I'll be over here. You two have fun."

"Wait," Optimus called out.

The human paused and looked at the mech curiously.

"Will any part of Jack's treatment require your other talents?"

Zech shook his head and grinned.

"Not anymore, and if something does develop he knows how to contact me."

Optimus watched the human leave gratefully and turned his attention back to the other semi.

"It has been a difficult time for us since Jack disappeared," he stated softly.

"I kind of figured that," Sal answered sympathetically. "It's hard being separated from your human."

The grey rig nuzzled into Optimus and let out something that sounded like a sigh of relief.

"You don't mind if I touch you?" he asked a bit nervously.

"I would enjoy it," the Cybertronian answered truthfully, rubbing their wheel guards together gently.

With a sound that was almost a purr Salcha leaned into Optimus. For a few moments the twin semis silently pressed against one another. The grey one was desperate for comfort and conformation of life and the red and blue sensed it. Rolling around in loose circles on the sun baked gravel they lightly bumped grills and let their wheels rub together. Long black tie straps flicked over the Prime's hood and high places shorter black tentacles flicked out to caress his mesh. They paused slightly over scars. Finally Salcha gave a little grumble and nuzzled up against the Cybertronian nose to nose, tail to tail, pressed as close as their build would comfortably allow. They sat in companionable silence while the Prime monitored his returning soldiers and kept one line open for updates from Ratchet and Nurse Darby.

"You are different," Sal finally said.

"From what?"

"I don't know," the grey semi replied softly. "From what I expected I guess. I thought you were some kind of invincible warrior but you are damaged and hurting; hurting so badly even if your body is healthy enough, and old. So very old."

Optimus rumbled his agreement with the assessment and felt his companion press a little closer.

"I don't get to cuddle with someone my size very often. The wolves are friendly enough but they don't like how I smell," Salcha commented suddenly. "Thank you."

"You are most welcome," the Prime replied.

He felt a little awkward certainly. His position as Prime did not grant him the luxury of seeking comfort from other Cybertronians like this. There was an unspoken barrier between him and even his closest allies and friends. The blessing of Primus; meant to connect the Cybertronians to their creator had served to separate their Prime from them. That was not the way it was meant to be perhaps but that was how it had been since he had accepted the matrix. However Salcha Franklin was not a fellow Cybertronian. His chosen form made it very easy to think of him as such but there was something utterly alien about the creature. Somehow this made it easier for the Prime to relax in his presence. This one was not his responsibility. Suddenly Sal sighed and pulled slightly away.

"I really should get going. Zech wasn't joking about our being needed," he said reluctantly.

"Mr. Franklin," Optimus began.

"Call me Sal."

"Sal, would it be permissible for us to stay in communication?"

"You bet! I don't care what they sat about voidwalkers. There's nothing to keep two big rigs from talking on the open road!"

"Then I will look forward to hearing from you."

"Hey, keep Jack safe Optimus. That kid, he's meant for great things," there was a sudden serious note in the deep voice.

"I give you my word."

The two separated and Sal looped over to scoop up Zech while Optimus returned to the dimness of the silo. He resumed monitoring the few frequencies he could while he waited for the returning scouts.

The Prime's thoughts were interrupted when the proximity alarms blared again. Fowler burst through the elevator doors but to the Cybertronian's surprise did not roar out his title. Instead the agent trotted quickly down the stairs with only a cursory nod to the mech and almost ran over to join the nurse and the medic. Optimus followed without challenging the human. As busy as their liaison had been Fowler had clearly been as worried as any of them over the missing youth. The man didn't interrupt the medics at first; just hanging back and exchanging relieved smiles with Nurse Darby, but after a moment his nose twitched and the agent pushed forward to the side of the bed.

"Agent Fowler," Ratchet interjected. "Please stay back this could be contagious."

"Not a chance," the man snorted carefully picking up Jack's thin wrist.

"Oh! So you are now a medical professional now?" the Autobot demanded sarcastically.

"Not by a long shot Doc Bot," the human responded, "but I know this. Unless I forgot everything I learned from my years as a Ranger the kid's got Swamp Rot; an Asian variety."

"Swamp Rot?" the medic sputtered. "Is that even a proper medical diagnosis?"

"Of course," June laughed with relief and looked at the agent gratefully as she began to make adjustments to the intravenous drip. "That explains all the symptoms."

The Autobot frowned at her and harrumphed.

"Well if someone would mind terribly explaining it to me?"

"Do you remember what I told you about the importance if clean water to humans?" the nurse asked. "Swamp Rot is actually a term coined by military units. When a soldier would not only drink contaminated water but was immersed in it for long periods as well they would often develop the symptoms you see."

"Or a bunch of others," Fowler continued. "You can kind of tell where he picked it up by the different kinds of rashes."

"We already know he was found at the mouth of the Yellow River," Ratchet snapped.

"That would do it," the agent mused stepping back and letting the healers work with this new information.

June was instructing Ratchet in the proper treatment of giardia and cryptosporidium. The agent stepped back and grinned up at the Prime.

"So, ready for some more good news?"

Optimus arched an optic ridge at the question but nodded.

"I was on my way here when I got your message about Jack and as thrilled as I am about that it's not why I came. We've spotted the Nemesis."

The Autobot looked sharply at the human who shook his head with a relieved grin.

"Not on Earth. Out past the moon, and she's listing."

"Listing?"

"Not flying straight and true; like the stabilizers or whatever the ship has aren't working right."

Relief seeped through the Prime and he allowed his optics to shutter closed for a moment as he rubbed his faceplates.

"That is good. Megatron will no doubt keep the vessel and his troops far from Earth until this has passed."

"Oh about that," Fowler interrupted. "The eggheads at NASA think they have a bead on the time line as well. Still no idea what caused this but solar flare activity appears to be consistent with the effects here planeside. I didn't follow their science to well but from the sound of it whatever is causing the equipment failures is also causing the rate of sunspots to go way up. They have been tracking that and say they'll have a time line ready in a few days."

Optimus nodded but his attention had been drawn back to the medical bay. The special agent noted his distraction and smiled ruefully. The Prime's care for the raven haired youth, his suffering at Jack unexplained absence had been carefully concealed but noted all the same by the sharp eyed ex-Ranger. His musings were cut short as the sound of a motor filled the silo.

"I got back as fast as I could Optimus," Arcee said as she transformed. "Where's the fire?"


	21. Home

**Trickster 20**

**Home**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction**

"Arcee," Optimus began. "We have good news."

The slim blue Autobot tensed; optics suddenly brightening in hope.

"Jack?" she demanded.

The Prime inclined his helm to the medical bay and stepped out of the way as she darted past him. He followed the scout a bit more slowly and arrived just in time to see her drop to her knees beside the hospital bed. He forestalled the protest he could see growing in Ratchet's faceplates by dropping a hand on the medic's broad shoulder guards.

*Come away old friend,* he gently sent over a private comm. *Let us leave the young ones together.*

The medic looked like he was about to protest but in the end he only nodded and followed Optimus out of the room. June was already ushering Miko and Raf away from their friend as well, leaving Arcee alone with the raven haired youth. For some time she just knelt looking down at the human with an inscrutable expression on her faceplates. The warrior then tenderly reached out a single servo and caressed his cheek. The youth turned softly into the touch and gave a contented sigh. Something seemed to snap in the stoic warrior then. She let slip a low visceral noise; not a human sound, metallic and musical, and her helm dropped until it was touching his forehead lightly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered raggedly letting the heat from his fever soak into her mesh, a tangible reminder that he was alive, that his body was fighting. "I should have found you days ago. I should have started looking the moment you didn't show up. I should have gone out and kept driving until I found you."

She continued to murmur to the unconscious human but her voice began to grow calmer. The warmth from his forehead seemed to spread through her infusing her very spark. Calmness seemed to overtake her slowly like the incoming tide. Each beat of his heart was a wave that washed soothingly over her and receded only to come again; a stable double rhythm that for the moment was her entire world.

A memory file was triggered by the sensation and the femme allowed it to activate. She had been in pain, in darkness, the cold of space had seeped into her frame, into her spark, and this same warmth had called her back from the brink, had supplied the strength, the reason, she had needed to fight through the cold. Her hand twitched at the remembered touch. She had woken fully to find Bumblebee holding her. The realization had hit her that they had all survived the space bridge explosion and the warmth flowing in to her had been forgotten in the rush of joy and relief. With the utmost care she wrapped her servos around the hand that was free of the intravenous drip letting the youth's palm settle where it had the day of the battle.

Arcee mulled over the sensations as she stared down at her partner's flushed face. She was no medic but there were data layers to the warmth that went beyond mere temperature differences when she examined them closely. Curiously she scanned her recent memory files; the ones that had accrued since she had met the human. The sensation was somehow as distinct as it was comforting and should have been easy to isolate and for the first few days it was. Every time Jack had touched her there had been that slow healing warmth spreading into her systems. However after about a week the intensity of the sensations had begun to fade. Perhaps whatever had caused it had faded, more likely she had just grown accustomed to it. It had still been pleasant when he touched her. The faint electromagnetic fields that pulsed through his skin were different from a Cybertronian energy field but similar enough to be every bit as welcome as Bulkhead's or Bumblebee's. Two weeks without any contact at all had apparently refreshed her ability to sense the alien energy.

The raven haired youth gave a sigh and shifted slightly, pulling away from her helm and breaking the femme's train of thought. She smiled tiredly down at him and considered her options. Carefully she let herself down on her side not releasing his hand. She snagged a nearby crate and propped her helm up so she could keep an optic on him. A frown creased her faceplates as a series of coughs wracked his body and she reluctantly let go of his hand as his shifting pulled it away but she left her servos beside him on the bed. Arcee powered down all of her nonessential programs and set her selfrepair protocols to work, the closest a Cybertronian came to sleep. She would have to return to duty but by the Allspark she was going to wait until Optimus ordered her to and not a micro-klick sooner. She settled in to wait and soon the warmth filled her again as Jack's hand found hers. It hurt a little that she could do no more for her partner but she could only hope that her presence was as comforting to him as his was to her.

The sound of light human footsteps distracted her for a moment as Raf rounded the corner of the medical bay carrying a bundle of clothes. He glanced over the scene and a bright smile suddenly lit up his face. The boy darted out to the main silo and the blue scout's sharp audio sensors caught the words slumber party mixed in a protracted begging session and June's reluctant surrender. Within a few minutes Miko and Raf tramped in making a great show of being very quiet and spread out their sleeping bags so they were in neither Ratchet's or June's way before climbing in and preparing for sleep.

When the medic came in to check on the patient he fought back a groan at the sight of all the intruders in his territory. He stepped carefully to Jack's side and examined the human's readouts. He was fighting off the infections well and all his vitals were within optimal limits. The medic frowned. The raven haired youth's metabolism was functioning at the upper end of normal. Even fighting off the multiple infections should not have required that much energy while in a sleep state and yet the carbon bonds were being broken and reformed at a rapid rate in his body.

The Autobot had sent Nurse Darby to bed with a firm admonition to rest and conserve her strength for her shift at the hospital the next day and felt reluctant to bring something so minor to her attention. It was within parameters. So with servos that were becoming increasingly deft at manipulating tiny objects he carefully adjusted the intravenous drip to supply more nutrients to the patient. Arcee sent him a curious glyph and he replied with one for annoyance and a very small data packet detailing the change. After that he lowered the lighting and left the four to rest resolving to discuss the oddities with June in the morning.

O

O

Jack grew steadily stronger over the next few days but did not seem inclined to wake up. June diagnosed extreme exhaustion and advised simply letting him wake in his own time. Optimus arranged Arcee's scouting schedule around the nurse's work shifts so that one of them was with Jack at all times. This served to calm both femmes knowing that the youth was under constant watch and also keep them slightly separated. As much as the warrior and the healer had come to care for each other, when Jack was concerned they could both still get a bit territorial.

The _Nemesis_ vanished from human sensors after a few days but was last seen still drifting and well away from the planet. Slowly the main systems in the base came back online. Ratchet declared the ground bridge operational but the test runs destroyed two of Rafael's remote controlled cars and Optimus decided to keep his warriors closer to the base. It was on the day that the first successful ground bridge test that Jack woke up.

Arcee had been assigned to clean the storage units by Ratchet, more to keep her busy than anything else, and was arm deep in one when something caught her attention. She paused and turned quickly towards the medical bed just in time to see Jack calmly and efficiently pulling the IV drip out of his arm. She stepped forward fully intending to snap at him to lay back down but the words caught in her vocalizer and before she knew it his arms were wrapped around her neck and she was holding him tightly to her chest plates. Alarms started blaring as the equipment realized that there was no longer a human attached to the sensors and Ratchet came barreling around the corner with a look of controlled panic.

"What in the name of the Allspark is going on here?" he demanded taking in the scene, but as much as he tried to hide it his spark was not made of steel after all and the sight of the blue warrior cradling her partner to her stilled any further protests he might have made.

A bright yellow helm peeked around the corner and the medical bay was filled with joyous beeping as Bumblebee called Bulkhead and Smokescreen over. Jack gave a rough cry of joy and willingly held out his arms to be snatched up by the three. Arcee surrendered her hold with an annoyed huff but watched with a smile as her partner assured them he was fine.

"All right, that is enough!" Ratchet finally interjected nearly snatching the youth up. "Jack is still weakened from his ordeal and needs rest."

"Actually I need to speak to Optimus," the youth interjected jumping out of the medic's grasp and landing on the bed a bit shakily, "privately."

"I don't think so," the Autobot snapped.

"Ratchet," the deep voice silenced the room as the great Prime somehow moved noiselessly into the silo. "Give me a moment with Jack."

"You have ten minutes," the medic grunted but nodded curtly and left the room in a huff, but not before the youth managed to lean forward and gave the red and white mech a quick hug to Ratchet's surprise. Arcee shooed the other three out of the medical bay shooting a warm smile at Jack over her shoulder guards as she went.

"You needed to speak to me?" Optimus asked.

"Is everyone okay?" the human demanded intently.

"We have been greatly worried about you but otherwise we are indeed all well."

"Is Airachnid still in her pod?"

"She was at the time of the last security sweep but it would be easy to check again."

"No, that's good," Jack sighed and slumped down on the bed.

He glanced up nervously at the Cybertronian; knowing that there were things that needed to be said but unsure where to begin. The human could feel the bond now that he was aware of it, but he could also feel that there was some kind of barrier between them. The matter had to be addressed but there were other things as well and Jack felt a bit nervous. If Optimus wasn't aware of it in the healed timeline how was he supposed to claim the Prime as Guardian and father? It seemed so presumptuous. He shoved the thought aside for the moment. There was time for that later.

"So I guess you want to know what happened," the human started. "Apparently several weeks ago Airachnid found a," Jack hesitated and frowned as he tried to describe the tablet and the being who claimed it was a door, "device," he continued uncertainly, "that allowed her to alter the past."

"What was the origin of this device?"

The youth glanced down in shame at the floor. Optimus gave a small rumble of understanding and reached out to rest a comforting servo on the human's back.

"Continue."

Jack nodded and launched into the story. Carefully editing out certain details but telling the Prime everything that he could. By the time he was finished the Autobot was staring at him intently the human sighed and slumped a little but gave Optimus a tired smile.

"You told me in the other timeline that this was impossible according to all the known science of Cybertron."

"May I ask how you convinced me of your veracity in that timeline?"

Jack hesitated. Now was the time but he was still unsure how to broach the subject. He closed his eyes and reached out for the bond. It was not completely blocked. There were faint sensations coming across it but it was still nearly impossible to sense unless he was looking for it and after several minutes of futile attempts to open the bond Jack gave a grunt of frustration. Optimus laid a servo on his back in wordless sympathy. The youth felt the compassion seeping through the bond and for the moment simply accepted the welcoming presence. The light of the ancient being's spark seemed to fill him until he was about to over flow. Instead of fighting the sensation Jack let it happen. He wasn't quite sure what happened next but it felt as if the love that was spilling out of the Prime overwhelmed him and washed back over the bond bursting the strange block.


	22. Family

**Trickster 21**

**Family**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction **

"Knockout Sir! Something has changed, sir!"

The military bearing and archaic behavior of the subordinates he was forced to work with annoyed the scientist to no end but the other officers insisted on the barbaric traditions so he ignored it like the good little medic he was and preformed his tasks.

"Yes?" he asked icily.

"Cylas's brain waves are active again, sir."

Without a word the gleaming red Decepticon stood and strode into his private lab. He examined the readouts eagerly and gave a dark chuckle.

"Sir?" the vehicon asked nervously.

"His brain is fully functional. Proceed with the next phase of experimentation," the scientist snapped.

"But what happened sir?"

"Human are disgusting little creatures that follow no order or logic, now get to work."

The vain mech returned to his station deep in thought. For a week-and-a-half he had feared that the enjoyment he dragged from this project had flat lined with the ridiculous Colonel's brainwaves. Now it was as if the man had stepped back into the body after a short trip. With a snort the scientist dismissed the irrational thought and turned his attention to the next detail of the project.

O

O

In the Medbay of Autobot Base Omega One Optimus Prime stiffened and his optics widened in shock. Ancient protocols were firing through his entire frame; deep primal instructions that flowed from his very spark. His processor lit up with thousands of conflicting, half formed imperatives as he stared down at the sparkling in his arms and drank in the feel of the electromagnetic field that was both delicate as a breeze across his armor and as real and solid to his spark as any he had ever felt. His sparkling. No, that was wrong; his logic centers struggled against the surging emotions for a few nanoklicks. This was Jack, he belonged to June Darby, he was her sparkling-no, child, his linguistics subroutines corrected. Then Jack gave a small sound of contentment and leaned his head against the Cybertronian's spark chamber. He was innocence and youth, compassion and need, trust and fear, the Autobot sensed the essence of the human in a way he had never for any being. Jack was alien and exotic, strange and foreign, but between them was the most ancient of all bonds; strong, real, and undeniable. Logic and reason were swept away in a flood of raw primeval emotion and core deep programming that burned almost painfully through the Prime. His sparkling.

O

O

It was not that Optimus Prime came awake. From the moment that the guardian bond had fully established itself he had been acutely aware of his surroundings; alert to every possible danger. When his sparkling had fallen asleep the overwhelming need to find a safe place had overtaken him. The red and blue mech had pulled his field tight in to his plating and had slipped deeper into the corridors of the base avoiding the others.

An empty storage room off of the main energon stockpile had suited the protocols that had seized control of him. It was small; barely large enough for his wide shoulder guards to fit in and he had to crouch, but that only placed his spark closer to the young one in his hands. A deep rumble of contentment spread out from his core and he began to croon to the sparkling reassuringly in Cybertronain, sending waves of glyphs for protection and safety.

How long they stayed like that, with Jack curled up sleeping peacefully against his chestplates, Optimus was not quite certain. His internal chronometer, as well as several other ancillary functions appeared to be malfunctioning and was sending half legible warnings to his HUD. It wasn't until the Prime heard June's worried voice calling down the corridor that his logic protocols managed to overwrite the primal urges that he had surrendered to. Guilt seized him when he recognized the fear in the woman's voice causing his plates to clamp tightly to his frame. The gesture and the distress disturbed his sparkling and Jack shifted and muttered. The Autobot stroked his back and murmured soothingly as he shifted to get out of the narrow space. His shoulder guards caught on the piping and conduits attached to the ceiling and the Cybertronian idly wondered how he had managed to squeeze in in the first place.

The moment he was out of the room the protocols attempted to reestablish themselves with a vengeance. _Hide, protect, shield_. He staggered a bit and curled his servos a little tighter around Jack but shook his helm to clear it and forced himself to calmly approach the voices. He stepped around a corner and spotted Mrs. Darby worriedly peering into a room. Optimus shuttered his optics rapidly as he looked at the human. She had not changed but there was no doubt his perception of her had. A glyph, half remembered from some research project floated to the surface of his awareness. She was now, a frown creased his faceplates, for there was no human word that was precisely equivalent. Regulating the matter to the back of his processor for the moment he called out.

"June."

"Optimus," instant relief filled her voice as her blue eyes fell on the precious burden in his servos, quickly tainted with annoyance and frustration. "Where have you been? Why weren't you answering your comm.?"

The Prime frowned deeper and quickly pulled up his internal communications records. They showed no records of any attempt to contact him but with so many of his subsystems malfunctioning it was difficult to be certain.

"Is Jack?" the mother asked.

"He is fine," Optimus quickly assured her lowering the sleeping youth to her level. "But there is something we need to discuss. Where are the others?"

"Ratchet sent Arcee out on patrol and Bulkhead and Bumblebee took the children to the warehouse," she replied giving Jack a quick once over and seemed to satisfy herself he was fine. "You look a bit off Optimus. How are you feeling?"

"There are things we need to discus now," he repeated softly, scooping her up and heading for the medical bay, "with Ratchet."

The woman held her curiosity in check but there was something distinctly different about the Prime. Ratchet spotted them as they entered the medbay and looked as if he was about to launch into a tirade but before he could he caught sight of the sleeping human and settled for bombarding Optimus with a furious series of frustration and annoyance glyphs not all of which would have been acceptable in mixed company. Optimus's field reacted instantly and violently sending a pulse of pure but muted aggression back that stopped the medic in his tracks.

June watched the interaction between the two mechs in curiosity and fascination. The red and blue Autobot had an expression of mingled shock and apology on his faceplates and the medic simply looked stunned. The human knew enough from her conversations with Arcee to guess that there was much being communicated beyond her range of perception so she waited patiently as Ratchet's expression turned from shock to disbelief to fascination.

The red and white Autobot was gently teaking his leader's field. Optimus stood still as the medic circled him warily feeling the familiar patterns of reaction to his probing. Finally he stepped back and glared at the Prime and the sleeping human as if they had conspired specifically to annoy and inconvenience him.

"Lie down on the exam table and place Jack on your chestplates," he finally snapped quietly, a feat the medic has somehow mastered. "Nurse Darby if you will please assist me in prepping the equipment it looks like you will get a chance to examine a living spark today."

The nurse was far too well trained to waste time asking what was going on. That Jack appeared to be in no danger was small comfort but if there was something wrong with Optimus's spark… She quickly shunted away that line of thought and focused on her work. The Prime had obeyed Ratchet and was now reclining with Jack curled up on his chestplates fast asleep. June paused a second at that. Jack was still recovering from an ordeal but he should have caught up on his sleep by now. Still the greater concern at the moment was Optimus. The leader of the Autobots had composed his faceplates but flickering movements in the smaller plating gave away the agitation that was running through him. Ratchet quickly attached the sensors and triggered the scans. Fortunately the Cybertronian components fired up and preformed as intended.

"Now give me Jack."

Optimus fought down the frantic surge to clutch the sparkling closer and carefully scooped up the sleeping human and handed him to the medic who with equal care placed the younger Darby on the human sized medical bed. He examined the readouts and gave a short bark of laughter.

"Ratchet?" June asked.

"Exactly as I expected," the medic said with a heavy exvent. "Normally congratulations would be in order."

"Normally?"

"June," Optimus drew her attention to himself. "I have formed a guardian bond with Jackson."

The woman blinked and her mouth opened in shock. A string of emotions flickered across her face disbelief rapidly gave way to fascination and she looked sharply at Ratchet.

"How is this even possible?"

"To the best of my knowledge it is not," the medic barked softly. "But the scans are saying it is. As is Optimus's behavior. That is why you disappeared," he said running his servos up the Primes side in a brisk medical fashion. "It is classic bonding behavior. Mechs will seek cover until they can be certain the sparkling is safe."

"But Jack is not a sparkling, a child," the woman protested.

"Believe me Nurse Darby, I am as confused as you are," Ratchet stated flatly. "It was my privilege in the past to oversee the formation of many sparkling/guardian bonds and the readings I am getting are confounding to say the least, like nothing I have ever witnessed, but there is no doubt that the bond has been formed despite the fact that it is impossible for a great variety of reasons."

"June," Optimus sat up despite Ratchet's protests and faced the woman with an intense look in his cerulean optics. "Please do not misunderstand me. I would never attempt to negate you claim on Jackson. It was never my intention for such a thing to happen but now that the bond has been formed it cannot be undone." The prime winced and rubbed his servos over his optics before continuing. "I carry a part of the responsibility for Jackson now and I would seek your blessing to-"

"Yes."

The Prime was about to continue his speech and shutter his optics rapidly at the woman.

"Excuse me?" Ratchet said equally stunned.

"Optimus," June shook her head with a small smile. "I have watched you care for Jack and the others for months now. You supported him through losing the sparklings is a way I could not and understood what he was going through after he came back from the Organic Pit in a way I could never hope to. He looks up to you and tries his best to emulate you. If you want my blessing to continue you have it, and believe me we will be talking about this a lot more, but for now I have learned enough about Cybertronian neural function to know that those readings are not good," she indicated the screen above Optimus's helm, "and Ratchet needs to tend to your needs."

The red and blue Autobot gave a long exvent as his overtaxed systems purged the excess heat.

"June no," he stated firmly. "I do not wish to continue as I have been. With this bond Jack is my sparkling and I would accept both the responsibilities and rights that that entails."

The human woman took a ragged breath and looked the ancient being straight in the optics.

"Optimus," she stated as firmly as she could. "Humans were never meant to have only one guardian. They need two; a mother and a father. I have given all I could to Jack since my husband left, always afraid that it would not be enough. I could see the stress it put on him, not having the other half of his parents and I saw that change once he began interacting with you. He has grown and matured so much these past few months." She caught her breath and wiped at her eyes. "Look, as far as I am concerned you are his father; far more than my husband ever was. If you want to formalize that in some way you have my blessing but for now," her voice suddenly grew firm and a little dangerous. "Lie. Down."

The leader of the Autobots shuttered his optics in surprise and smiled slightly before allowing Ratchet to push him back down on the medical berth. The medic began barking orders out to June and she darted about efficiently anticipating his needs. The Prime wondered at her strength and adaptability. She, like all humans, seemed so fragile and yet was capable of so much. His musings were interrupted as Ratchet began asking questions, trying to ascertain when the bond had formed. He was certain it had to have been before Jack had in turn imprinted on the sparklings and was picking Optimus's memory for any indicators. The larger mech was about to respond when a spike of pain lanced through his spark. The warrior grunted, any exclamation restrained by eons of conditioning but from across the room a cry of fear filled the medical bay.


	23. Guardianship

**Trickster 22**

**Guardianship**

**A Transformers Prime Fanfiction **

Ratchet reacted immediately; snatching up a slim device and pressing it against the base of Optimus's helm.

"Nurse Darby you must sedate Jack now! Optimus, old friend, I am sorry but I must do this."

The probe hummed and the Prime's cerulean optics dimmed as he slumped down on the berth. June darted over to where Jack had lunged out of the bed and fallen to his knees clutching his chest. He looked up at her frantically.

"Mom," the youth gasped, "something is eating it."

"It's going to be okay Jack," she stated in her nurse voice, both soothing and allowing no argument. "Now I need you to lie back down."

He didn't struggle as she guided him back onto the bed and slid the needle into his arm but the blue-grey eyes were locked onto Optimus even as they flickered closed. The mother shot a look at Ratchet. The medic was hunched over the readouts and had begun to release a steady stream of words in Cybertronian June could not understand but there was a near palpable rage beneath the trilling and grating tones. It sounded for all the world like a fight had broken out between a grand piano and a forklift.

"Doctor?" she demanded, if he had time to curse he had time to explain. "What is wrong with the bond?"

"Nothing!"

"Nothing? Then there is something wrong with Optimus's spark?"

"No."

"Then what?" the mother was near screaming in frustration now.

"The Senate," he spat the words as if they were a curse.

"Doctor! Could you be a touch more cryptic? I almost understood that."

"There is little time Nurse and I will soon require all of my attention to prevent a double tragedy. Suffice it to say that there is a mass of aggressive coding within Optimus at this point that is attempting to dissolve the guardian bond. As this is impossible it will soon resort to attacking the systems in his processor that sustain it; essentially consuming his processor one program at a time." His tone shifted and he gestured towards a bank of computer screens. "Watch those readouts. I trust you know enough about Cybertronian mental functions to be able to alert me if it deviates from the norm by more than seventeen percent."

The nurse moved to cover the screens while the medic seemed to fiddle with a mesh separator. Carefully he teased open the plates that protected the Primes spark. A soft cry escaped the mother as her eyes were drawn to the beautiful glow. There was something in the blue light that seemed to resonate within her. A harsh grunt from Ratchet reminded her of her duties and she forced herself to look away and focused on the monitors.

A thin cable snaked out from the medic's wrist and took some time attaching itself to the hidden port under the surface of Optimus's chestplating. June kept her eyes fixed on the readouts for both Optimus and the unconscious Jack. Her son at least was fine, the lack of awareness protecting him from the backlash of whatever was plaguing Optimus. The Prime however was clearly suffering. The readouts were far too complex for her to comprehend the details but she knew what 'good' waves were and what 'bad' waves were and right now the bad was steadily overwhelming the good. Ratchet had braced himself against the berth, shuttered his optics tightly, and all non-essential movement in his frame had ceased. The only indication that he was actively doing anything was the soft humming of his cooling fans as they circulated air over his straining processor systems and the flickering of his optics. However when she called out a warning that the discrepancies on one screen were growing too great they were swiftly and ruthlessly corrected. The woman rocked back on her heels and prepared to wait.

O

O

Fire burned across Ratchet's awareness. He summoned long unused artificial intelligences from the banks of sub-programs he had acquired over the eons. Every mech with medical training had at least a few of the semi-aware packets of data that enhanced multitasking ability. They were especially helpful in warding off another Cybertronian's defenses if their processors had not been shut down properly for programming alterations or repairs. Ratchet had distained them before the war. In the golden age of Cybertron only the highest castes of processor specialists had truly needed them on a day to day basis. His exponentially expanding duties had required he not only acquire so many his memory banks had had to be artificially expanded to hold them all but the two he dispatched in this instance would have been considered at best a capital legal offense. More likely he would have been tried for blasphemy and conspiracy had they been detected in his possession.

For the processor of a Prime was sacred, inviolate. Every youngling understood that once blessed by Primus there could be no wrong found in the thought patterns and actions of their anointed leader. He was holiness incarnate; therefore there could be nothing that would require medical attention, therefore the only reason to have such programs would be an attack. So the Prime's data port was difficult to access physically and alterations to his processor forbidden. Ratchet's association with Orion and then Optimus had cured him of any lingering belief in the propaganda and almost before the matrix had even fully settled in the red and blue mech's frame he had acquired the necessary training and programs to assist his friend. Now those programs were being assaulted in ways they had never experienced before and the frantic reports they were sending his CPU were only serving to distract him. When the Senate had named Orion Pax Prime he had willingly submitted to the ancient rituals that accompanied the title. For the first time Ratchet understood the full consequences of those and his spark raged.

What had been added to the Prime so long ago defied categorization. It was far too complex to be called a mere program or sub-routine. It was completely intertwined with and subordinate to Optimus's personality coding so it was not an alternate awareness. Before when the suspicious medic had analyzed the great bulk of data and instructions he had determined that it was mostly superfluous; a bloated mass, most of which was vestigial and useless, much like the senate that had insisted on it he had cynically assumed. It was proving now that few if any of the data were truly vestigial. It would have to be removed. The task would be practically impossible it was so deeply embedded in the Prime by now but large portions of it that had only just activated could be severed and excised. Ratchet summoned more of the AI programs from his reserves and sent them to backup the failing two. He unleashed nearly all of the rest to begin dismantling the lesser points of linkage. The medic focused on the core of the data, chose one great lumbering root command and began to hack.

O

O

Cybertronians experienced time differently than humans. June had listened with moderate interest as Ratchet had explained this over a cup of tea. The mechanoids could accelerate their processor function or decelerate it, effectively controlling their perception of time. This allowed them to interact with vastly differing species in their travels and perform complex calculations in micro-klicks. The woman could guess that Ratchet had accelerated his processor to its maximum extent and was running it hard. Still the odd procedure dragged out for hours. Miko and Bulkhead returned and the nurse ordered them to the monitors. Finally the red and white Autobot gave a sound that might have been a groan but was overlaid with a symphony of soft, exhausted noises; Cybertronian expression unfiltered by imitation protocols. June felt a small spark of wonder as she watched the medic slump to a sitting position on the floor.

O

O

Ratchet's optics shuttered open and searched the medical bay for his assistant, his plates shifting in agitation when he failed to spot the femme. The entire set up felt wrong, alien. A small fraction of his processor took the energy to be disturbed by the primitive equipment that surrounded him. As small, slow moving creature; a soft fleshy organic of some sort approached him and he flinched away, raising a hand to bat it away, but before he could complete the gesture one data thread in his processor met another and a warning screamed through his awareness.

*Star's Warmth,* he muttered as he recognized his assistant.

The scattered sub-routines began to reassert themselves and the mech felt reality rearrange around him as his perceptions reset, reclaiming recent memory files that the vicious sleeper programming had torn away, and his processor slowed down to a more sustainable speed.

"June," he corrected remembering to speak in English this time using her given human name. "Optimus is stable and neither he nor Jack is in further danger. All that is required is time for him to defragment his coding. I suggest we leave them and replenish our reserves."

The woman agreed and called out for Bulkhead to bring energon. He arrived with a cube and Mrs. Darby expertly wielded the syringe to inject the still heavily venting medic. After a few moments his body had processed the vital liquid and he stood, still a bit shaky. The silo filled with the sound of engines as Bumblebee and Arcee arrived.

"What's happened?" the cycle-bot demanded frantically when she saw the tense situation.

"Jack is resting comfortably," the medic interjected curtly. "His condition flared up and June needed to sedate him. As for Optimus he is defraging some dormant coding."

The blue warrior nodded in acceptance but darted in to check on her partner anyway. June glanced curiously at the medic but supposed that he wanted to give Optimus the chance to announce the news himself. Bumblebee gave her a cheerful smile as he went over to wait for his turn to hover over the sleeping human. Ratchet scooped up June and deposited her next to the tea makings. She brewed herself a pot while he leaned against the cracked concrete.

"So," she asked softly when they were alone. "What was that all about?"

Conflicting emotions flitted across his faceplates for a moment then settled into a fierce scowl. The smaller plating along his body flared in aggression, something she had never seen him do so obviously. The Cybertronians were so very skilled at assimilating the mannerisms of the cultures they encountered it was easy to forget that they possessed culture and reactions of their own. It was so very rare to catch a glimpse of that. Had she been slightly less exhausted she would had been enthralled. As it was she managed a mild burst of interest as the agitated gesture spread to his larger plates causing a hissing and chittering sound.

"There are certain things that everymech knows about the Prime," he began growling ominously. "Some I was taught was simple legend but some was fact. One of the main points was that the Prime could never imprint a sparkling."

June blinked in surprise and gave a small noise of curiosity.

"It was explained to me by the Senate members that all of Cybertron was under the guardianship of the Prime. He could not be distracted from his care of Cybertron by the responsibilities inherent in a sparkling bond. Remember that in times of peace they would remain with their Guardians for centuries, millennia even. They outright stated that this was the will of Primus. That any who carried the Matrix was forever severed from the Well of Allsparks in this one way."

His rage was nearly a palpable wave emanating off of the mech now.

"The coding you were fighting," June deducted with a growing anger of her own. "That didn't come from the Matrix."

"No! It was old to be sure but there is no doubt in my processor that it was pressed upon Optimus in stealth by the Senate or their minions."

"They made sure there would be no distractions for the Prime," the human summarized.

"It was designed to prevent imprinting," Ratchet snarled. "But it failed because it never occurred to the short sighted fools that it could happen with another species. Jack slipped through the blocks."

"And the physical signs that are supposed to accompany the bond? Why hasn't Optimus's armor softened?"

"It might not have been able to recognize Jack but the programming knew the signs of imprinting and has been actively countering them. That is why Optimus was unaware of it for so long. The programming has been deadening the sectors of his processor responsible for reacting to the bond."

"So why was Optimus suddenly able to react to it?"

"A guardian bond is very weak in the beginning but grows stronger over time. I can only assume that it has grown too strong to be contained."

"That is a part of the reason old friend," Optimus's deep voice spoke up behind them calm and steady.

"You should not be up yet!" Ratchet insisted spinning on the Prime.

"You did good work and the defragmentation process is complete," he replied evenly, "and there is much I must tell you."

The Leader of the Autobots laid out the story Jack had shared with him carefully editing out the Franklin's contribution. Somewhat to his surprise Ratchet was nodding in agreement before the tale was finished.

"Given what I have been reading on the scanners that makes sense," the medic concluded. "It also explains why you were able to sense the bond in the other timeline, the sleeper coding would not have been able to react fast enough to a mature bond to hide it. If it was even still active considering the state you must have been in."

"Time travel," June muttered shaking her head in frustration. "Jack spent nearly two weeks with Silas?" she demanded, mingled pride, fear, and resignation in her voice. She stretched and gave a groan. "Well at least I get a Godfather for Jack out of this. Now if you will excuse me I have a shift tomorrow and I need some sleep." It occurred to the woman that she should probably be more concerned about all of this but with everyone she cared about safe and in no immediate danger she just couldn't work up the energy.

"There is one more thing June," Ratchet said softly. "There is one bit of information I hesitate to tell Jack and I would appreciate your input on the matter."

"Yes?" she asked with a frown.

"The coding that prevents the bond from forming is nearly identical to that used on the sparklings."

The mother froze as she considered the implications of that.

"Starscream wrote this?"

"No, it is far too old and there was something about it when I first analyzed their data that suggested another author even then. Starscream got the core programs from the Senate. This was not something that was widely known even in their ranks. He would have never guessed at its existence, would not have looked for it on his own."

"The research he was doing on the sparklings," June gasped in shock. "It was-"

"Most likely requested by the Cybertronian Senate," Optimus concluded grimly. "In all probability before the war began when Starscream was still a member of the Academy of Science."

"He will want to know but don't tell him until he is back at full strength," the mother decided after a moment's thought. "Optimus?"

"I am in agreement," he bowed slightly to her with a surge of gratitude and surprise at being so readily included.

"Then good night mechs," she said with a tired sigh. "I will see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Sister."

She blinked up at the Prime a moment confused.

"It is the closest approximation in English of the Cybertronian symbol for our relationship," he explained. "I am afraid I cannot translate the glyphs any better they are," he hesitated, "ancient and sacred, not in use."

June smiled tiredly and nodded in acceptance. They watched her go and Ratchet rested a hand on his leaders shoulder guard. He pulsed his field comfortingly but Optimus caught a note of concern underlying the usual confidence.

*What is it Ratchet?* he asked on their private frequency.

*Megatron cannot know.*

The statement was simple but it was accompanied by so many glyphs for urgency and determination that the Prime nearly staggered under the emotional weight of it.

*I had no intention of informing him,* he replied, disorientated by the sudden onslaught.

Ratchet sensed his discomfort and backed away pulling his field close.

*You must understand old friend, I am one of the few who saw the relationship develop between you and your brother," the last word was spoken with resigned bitterness. "Before your paths diverged he would be fiercely jealous of any division of your attention. After the war began he proved time and time again that he did not just use the ones closest to you as a tactical advantage. Harming one you cared about was a form of revenge for what he saw as your betrayal, especially if he considered that one unworthy. Here you have taken one nearly as close to your very spark as it is possible to achieve, and you have granted that honor to an organic at that.*

*I granted nothing.* Optimus sent with glyphs stale with ancient anger. *Such a bond is a gift from Primus, not a choice.*

*Do you really think Megatron will see it that way? He despises the humans when he thinks of them at all.*

*And Jack has already caught his optic,* the Optimus responded reluctantly coming to the same conclusion as the medic, *has already made himself a target for revenge.*

*Optimus, my friend,* Ratchet armor was clamped tight to his frame in submission now and placating glyphs danced around his words. *I can see the joy this brings you and I share it for your sake and for Star's Warmth's but I fear that it places Jack in grave danger.*

The Prime withheld the glyphs for amusement at the medic's slip at the same time as he felt a growing apprehension that his friend was correct. He had suspected for some time that the healer had given the human woman a Cybertronian designation. A mark of affection and confidence he would no doubt rather peel his own plating off than admit willingly. In the privacy of their comm. lines Optimus simply agreed with him.

*Should we tell the others then?* Ratchet slumped a little, relieved that the Prime had accepted his point.

*I do not think it can be hidden for long in such a close environment as this.*

*You are right Optimus. We must simply be all the more watchful.*

The two mechs' optics were drawn back to the medbay where the human in question slept.

"I will inform the others once Jack wakes," the Prime stated.

He exchanged relieved nods with the two scouts as they left the medical bay and resumed their duties. The red and blue mech knelt beside the bed and almost reverently stroked a servo across the raven hair. Glyphs that had been quietly burning in the back of his processor for months suddenly burst into his awareness; a name that had felt as if it had been on the edge of his memory for months, teasing forgotten protocols, something the sleeper code had not been able to completely suppress.

"My sparkling," Optimus said softly. "My son; my Daybreaker."


End file.
